Sum over k of r Choose k by -1^r-k by Polynomial/Proof 1
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Theorem
Let $r \in \Z_{\ge 0}$.
Then:
- $\ds \sum_k \binom r k \paren {-1}^{r - k} \map {P_r} k = r! \, b_r$
where:
- $\map {P_r} k = b_0 + b_1 k + \cdots + b_r k^r$ is a polynomial in $k$ of degree $r$.
Proof
From the corollary to Sum over $k$ of $\dbinom r k \dbinom {s + k} n \paren {-1}^{r - k}$:
- $\ds \sum_k \binom r k \binom k n \paren {-1}^{r - k} = \delta_{n r}$
where $\delta_{n r}$ denotes the Kronecker delta.
Thus when $n \ne r$:
- $\ds \sum_k \binom r k \binom k n \paren {-1}^{r - k} = 0$
and so:
- $\ds \sum_k \binom r k \paren {-1}^{r - k} \paren {c_0 \binom k 0 + c_1 \binom k 1 + \cdots + c_m \binom k m} = c_r$
as the only term left standing is the $r$th one.
Choosing the coefficients $c_i$ as appropriate, a polynomial in $k$ can be expressed as a summation of binomial coefficients in the form:
- $c_0 \dbinom k 0 + c_1 \dbinom k 1 + \cdots + c_m \dbinom k m$
Thus we can rewrite such a polynomial in $k$ as:
- $b_0 + b_1 k + \cdots + b_r k^r$
Since each $c_m \dbinom k m$ is a polynomial of degree $m$, it follows that the only one with a non-zero degree $r$ term is $c_r \dbinom k r$.
The coefficient of $k^r$ in $c_r \dbinom k r$ must be equal to $b_r$, that is:
- $b_r = \dfrac {c_r}{r!}$
Hence the result.
$\blacksquare$
Sources
- 1997: Donald E. Knuth: The Art of Computer Programming: Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms (3rd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 1.2.6$: Binomial Coefficients: $(34)$