Binomial coefficients

An expression like (a + b) or (1 + x) is called a binomial because it involves two symbols or quantities. Squaring (a + b) entails multiplying each summand in the first factor by each
summand in the second factor: (a + b)^2 = a × a + a × b + b × a + b × b = a^2 + 2ab + b^2. Note that each summand in the final answer has a total power of 2 (because there are
originally two factors). Note also that there is only one way to choose an a from each factor, hence a^2 appears alone (i.e., multiplied by 1), one can obtain ab from either and a
int the first factor and a b in the second factor or from a b in the first factor and an a in the second factor, and there is only one way to choose a b from each factor, hence b^2
appears alone. In general, in the expansion of (a + b)^n, (a^k)(b^(n-k)) [note that the exponents sum to n] is multiplied by C(n,k), because there are C(n,k) ways to choose k of the
factors to contribute an a and (n-k) of the factors to contribute a b (each factor contributes either an a or a b). For this reason, C(n,k) is sometimes called a binomial coefficient; it
is the coefficient of (it multiplies) (a^k)(b^(n-k) in the expansion of (a + b)^n. For example, verify that (a + b)^4 = a^4 + 4(a^3)(b) + 6(a^2)(b^2) + 4(a)(b^3) + b^4.

Pascal's triangle
One way to find binomial coefficients is with Pascal’s triangle. Pascal's triangle is:

1 C(0,0)
1 1 C(1,0) C(1,1)
1 2 1 C(2,0) C(2,1) C(2,2)
1 3 3 1 C(3,0) C(3,1) C(3,2) C(3,3)
1 4 6 4 1 C(4,0) C(4,1) C(4,2) C(4,3)
C(4,4)
. . . . . .

Note that there are 1's down each side, and every other entry is the sum of the two entries which are diagonally above it. This can be expressed an C(n,k) = C(n-1, k-1) + C(n-1, k)
which is easily verified. Also note the symmetry of Pascal's triangle, which manifests the fact that C(n,k) = C(n,n-k),
BINOMIAL COEFFICIENTS

n
def: The binomial coefficient is the
r

coefficent of xr in the expansion of the (expo-nentiated) binomial (1 + x)r to a

polynomial.
n

notation: for the binomial coefficient r

n
(1 + x)n = r xr
n

r=0
= 0 x0 + 1x
1
+ · · · +n xn
n n n
review from pre-Columbia:

0
(1 + x) = 1

1
(1 + x) = 1 + x
2 2
(1 + x) = 1 + 2x + x

3 2 3
(1 + x) = 1 + 3x + 3x + x

4 2 3 4
(1 + x) = 1 + 4x + 6x + 4x + x

5 2 3 4 5
(1 + x) = 1 + 5x + 10x + 10x + 5x + x
Binomial Coefficients in Pascal's Triangle

Numbers written in any of the ways shown below. Each notation is read aloud "n choose r".

These numbers, called binomial coefficients because they are used in the binomial theorem, refer to specific addresses in Pascal's triangle. They refer to the nth row, rth
element in Pascal's triangle as shown below.

The formula used to compute binomial coefficients directly is found below as well.

refers to the nth row, rth

element in Pascal's Triangle.

Example:
is the 5th row, 4th element, so

5C4 is another notation for the same element.

Formula:

Examples:
Proof of the binomial theorem by mathematical induction
In this section, we give an alternative proof of the binomial theorem using mathematical induction. We will need to use Pascal's identity in the form

(nr−1)+(nr)=(n+1r),for0<r≤n.(nr−1)+(nr)=(n+1r),for0<r≤n.

We aim to prove that

(a+b)n=an+(n1)an−1b+(n2)an−2b2+⋯+(nr)an−rbr+⋯+(nn−1)abn−1+>bn.(a+b)n=an+(n1)an−1b+(n2)an−2b2+⋯+(nr)an−rbr+⋯+(nn−1)abn−1+>bn.

We first note that the result is true for n=1n=1 and n=2n=2.

Let kk be a positive integer with k≥2k≥2 for which the statement is true. So

(a+b)k=ak+(k1)ak−1b+(k2)ak−2b2+⋯+(kr)ak−rbr+⋯+(kk−1)abk−1+bk.(a+b)k=ak+(k1)ak−1b+(k2)ak−2b2+⋯+(kr)ak−rbr+⋯+(kk−1)abk−1+bk.

Now consider the expansion

(a+b)k+1=(a+b)(a+b)k=(a+b)(ak+(k1)ak−1b+(k2)ak−2b2+⋯+(kr)ak−rbr+⋯+(kk−1)abk−1+bk)=ak+1+[1+(k1)]akb+[(k1)+(k2)]ak−1b2+⋯⋯+[(kr−1)+(kr)]ak−r+1br+⋯+[
(kk−1)+1]abk+bk+1.(a+b)k+1=(a+b)(a+b)k=(a+b)(ak+(k1)ak−1b+(k2)ak−2b2+⋯+(kr)ak−rbr+⋯+(kk−1)abk−1+bk)=ak+1+[1+(k1)]akb+[(k1)+(k2)]ak−1b2+⋯⋯+[
(kr−1)+(kr)]ak−r+1br+⋯+[(kk−1)+1]abk+bk+1.

From Pascal's identity, it follows that

(a+b)k+1=ak+1+(k+11)akb+⋯+(k+1r)ak−r+1br+⋯+(k+1k)abk+bk+1.(a+b)k+1=ak+1+(k+11)akb+⋯+(k+1r)ak−r+1br+⋯+(k+1k)abk+bk+1.

Hence the result is true for k+1k+1. By induction, the result is true for all positive

integers n.