ADVANCED PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

EDITED BY
FLORIAN LUCA
Please send all communications concerning ADVANCED PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
to FLORIAN LUCA, IMATE, UNAM, AP. POSTAL 61-3 (XANGARI), CP 58 089, MORE-
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new or extending old results. Proposers should submit solutions or other information that will
assist the editor. To facilitate their consideration, all solutions sent by regular mail should be
submitted on separate signed sheets within two months after publication of the problems.
PROBLEMS PROPOSED IN THIS ISSUE
H-712 Proposed by N. Gauthier, The Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston,
ON
The nth central binomial coecient is, for an integer n 0: B
n
=
_
2n
n
_
. Then, for a
nonnegative integer m, dene the convolution
b
m
(n) =
n

k=0
k
m
B
nk
B
k
,
where b
0
(n) =

n
k=0
B
nk
B
k
. Prove the following recurrence,
b
m
(n) =
2
2nm
(2m 1)!!(n)
m
m!

m1

k=1
S
(k)
m
b
k
(n).
In this expression, the sum in the righthand side is taken to vanish when m = 0, 1, and the
coecients are Stirling numbers of the rst kind, {S
(k)
m
: 1 k m}. Also,
(2m 1)!! = 1 3 5 (2m 1); (n)
m
= n(n 1) . . . (n m+ 1),
where, by convention, (2m 1)!! = 1 and (n)
m
= 1 for m = 0.
H-713 Proposed by Hideyuki Ohtsuka, Saitama, Japan
Determine
(1)

k=1
2
k
F
2
k
L
32
k
and (2)

k=1
2
k
F
3
2
k
L
22
kL
32
k
.
H-714 Proposed by N. Gauthier, The Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston,
ON
Let n be a positive integer. Find a closedform expression for the following sum:
S(n) =
n

k=1
k
2
_
2n 2k
n k
__
2k
k
_
.
FEBRUARY 2012 89
THE FIBONACCI QUARTERLY
H-715 Proposed by Hideyuki Ohtsuka, Saitama, Japan
The Tribonacci numbers T
n
satisfy
T
0
= 0, T
1
= T
2
= 1, T
n+3
= T
n+2
+T
n+1
+T
n
for n 0.
Find explicit formulas for
(1)
n

k=1
T
2
k
and (2)
n

k=1
(T
2
k
T
k+1
T
k1
)
2
.
SOLUTIONS
Catalans Constant, and ln 2
H-691 Proposed by Ovidiu Furdui, Cluj, Romania and Huizeng Qin, Shandong,
China
(Vol. 47, No. 3, August 2009/2010)
Find the value of

n=1
(1)
n
_
ln 2
1
n + 1

1
n + 2

1
2n
_
2
.
Solution by Khristo N. Boyadzhiev, Ohio Northern University, Ohio
Let be the sum to be evaluated. We shall see that
=
G
2
+
13
2
192

7(ln 2)
2
8

ln 2
8
, (1)
where G is the Catalan constant to be dened later.
First we use a well-known identity (see [3])
1
n + 1
+
1
n + 2
+ +
1
2n
=
2n

k=1
(1)
k1
k
.
At the same time,
ln 2 =

k=1
(1)
k1
k
.
Thus,
ln 2
1
n + 1

1
n + 2

1
2n
=

k=2n+1
(1)
k1
k
=
_
1
0
x
2n
dx
1 +x
.
90 VOLUME 50, NUMBER 1
ADVANCED PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
The last equality is easy to establish by expanding 1/(1 + x) in power series and integrating
termwise. Next we write
=

n=1
(1)
n
__
1
0
x
2n
dx
1 +x
_
2
=

n=1
(1)
n
__
1
0
x
2n
dx
1 +x
___
1
0
y
2n
dy
1 +y
_
=

n=1
(1)
n
_
1
0
_
1
0
x
2n
y
2n
dxdy
(1 +x)(1 +y)
=
_
1
0
_
1
0
_

n=1
(x
2
y
2
)
n
_
dxdy
(1 +x)(1 +y)
=
_
1
0
_
1
0
x
2
y
2
dxdy
(1 +x
2
y
2
)(1 +x)(1 +y)
.
Here, we set y = u/x to get
=
_
1
0
__
x
0
u
2
du
(1 +u
2
)(u +x)
_
dx
(1 +x)
=
_
1
0
_
x
2
ln 2
1 +x
2
+
ln(1 +x
2
)
2(1 +x
2
)

xarctan x
1 +x
2
_
dx
(1 +x)
= ln 2
_
1
0
x
2
dx
(1 +x
2
)(1 +x)
+
1
2
_
1
0
ln(1 +x
2
)dx
(1 +x
2
)(1 +x)
+
_
1
0
xarctan xdx
(1 +x
2
)(1 +x)
; (2)
i.e.,
= Aln 2 +
1
2
B +C, (3)
where A, B, C are the corresponding integrals in (2). We calculate them one by one. The
rst one is very easy:
A =
3 ln 2
4


8
.
Next,
B =
1
2
__
1
0
ln(1 +x
2
)dx
1 +x
+
_
1
0
ln(1 +x
2
)dx
1 +x
2

_
1
0
xln(1 +x
2
)dx
1 +x
2
_
.
We have
_
1
0
xln(1 +x
2
)dx
1 +x
2
=
1
2
_
1
0
ln(1 +x
2
)d ln(1 +x
2
) =
(ln 2)
2
4
,
_
1
0
ln(1 +x
2
)dx
1 +x
=
ln 2
2
G (4)
(from tables, G is the Catalan constant; see, for example, 4.296.5 in [2]),
_
1
0
ln(1 +x
2
)dx
1 +x
=
3(ln 2)
2
4


2
48
(computed by hand, solution available). Therefore,
B =
1
2
_
(ln 2)
2
2


2
48
+
ln 2
2
G
_
.
FEBRUARY 2012 91
THE FIBONACCI QUARTERLY
Finally,
_
1
0
xarctan xdx
(1 +x
2
)(1 +x)
=
1
2
_
1
0
arctan xdx
1 +x

1
2
_
1
0
xarctan xdx
1 +x
2

1
2
_
1
0
arctan xdx
1 +x
2
,
where
_
1
0
arctan xdx
1 +x
=
ln 2
8
(evaluated in Problem 833 in [1]; also in [2], 4.535.1).
_
1
0
arctan xdx
1 +x
2
=
1
2
(arctan x)
2

1
0
=

2
8
,
_
1
0
xarctan xdx
1 +x
2
=
ln 2
8

1
2
_
1
0
ln(1 +x
2
)dx
1 +x
2
=
ln 2
8

1
2
_
ln 2
2
G
_
=
G
2

ln 2
8
(after integration by parts and using (4); the integral can also be reduced to 4.531.7 in [2]).
Thus,
C =
1
2
_
ln 2
4


2
8

G
2
_
.
From (3), we obtain (1).
References
[1] K. Boyadzhiev and L. Glasser, Solution to problem 833, College Math. J., 40.4 (2009), 297298.
[2] I. S. Gradshteyn and I. M. Ryzhik, Table of Integrals, Series, and Products, Academic Press, 1965.
[3] S. Wolfram, The Harmonic Number Page of the Wolfram Mathworld,
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/HarmonicNumber.html.
Also solved by Kenneth B. Davenport and the proposers.
Closed Forms For Trigonometric Sums
H-692 Proposed by Napoleon Gauthier, Kingston, ON
(Vol. 47, No. 3, August 2009/2010)
Let q 1, N 3 be integers and dene Q = (N 1)/2. Find closed form expressions for
the following sums:
a) P
0
(, q) =
q

k=1
sin(2k 1)
cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
;
b) R
0
(, q) =
q

k=1
sin(2k 1)[sin
2
+ sin
2
(2k 1)]
cos
4
k cos
4
(k 1)
;
c) P
1
(N) =
Q

k=1
k sin
(2k1)
N
cos
2
k
N
cos
2
(k1)
N
;
92 VOLUME 50, NUMBER 1
ADVANCED PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
d) R
1
(N) =
Q

k=1
k sin
(2k1)
N
_
sin
2
N
+ sin
2
(2k1)
N
_
cos
4
k
N
cos
4
(k1)
N
.
Solution by the proposer
To obtain the sought closedform expressions, we rst prove three lemmas.
Lemma 1. For k a positive integer and a real variable such that 0 < k < /2, the following
relation holds:
sin sin(2k 1)
cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
= tan
2
k tan
2
(k 1). (5)
Proof. Consider the following trigonometric identities
sin k cos(k 1) cos k sin(k 1) = sin ,
sin k cos(k 1) + cos k sin(k 1) = sin(2k 1),
and divide the results by cos k cos(k 1). This gives
sin
cos k cos(k 1)
= tan k tan(k 1),
(6)
sin(2k 1)
cos k cos(k 1)
= tan k + tan(k 1).
Multiplying the above two relations (6), we get (5).
Lemma 2. For k a positive integer and a real variable such that 0 < k < /2, the following
holds
sin(2k 1)[sin
2
+ sin
2
(2k 1)]
cos
4
k cos
4
(k 1)
= 2 csc (tan
4
k tan
4
(k 1)). (7)
Proof. Square the rst relation (6) and get
sin
2

cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
= tan
2
+ tan
2
(k 1) 2 tan k tan(k 1). (8)
Next, we square the second relation (6) and get
sin
2
(2k 1)
cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
= tan
2
+ tan
2
(k 1) + 2 tan k tan(k 1). (9)
Then add (8) and (9) to get
sin
2
+ sin
2
(2k 1)
cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
= 2(tan
2
k + tan
2
(k 1)). (10)
Multiplication of (10) by (5) and division of the result by sin then gives (7).
Lemma 3. Consider an arbitrary, well-dened sequence of functions or numbers,
{w
k
: k = 1, 2, 3, . . .}
and, for any positive integer q, dene the following sums
s
0
(q) =
q

k=1
w
k
; s
1
(q) =
q

k=1
kw
k
.
FEBRUARY 2012 93
THE FIBONACCI QUARTERLY
Then the following holds:
s
1
(q) = (q + 1)s
0
(q)
q

k=1
s
0
(k). (11)
Proof. Consider the following set of q equations:
w
1
+w
2
+w
3
+ +w
q
= s
0
(q);
w
2
+w
3
+ +w
q
= s
0
(q) s
0
(1);
w
3
+ +w
q
= s
0
(q) s
0
(2);

w
q
= s
0
(q) s
0
(q 1).
Then sum the terms in the lefthand side and equate the result to the sum of the terms in the
righthand side. This gives
w
1
+ 2w
2
+ +qw
q
= qs
0
(q)
q1

k=1
s
0
(k).
Equation (11) follows upon adding and subtracting s
0
(q) in the righthand side of this result.

To get a closed form for a), divide (5) by sin and note that the sum over 1 k q
collapses. This gives:
P
0
(q) =
q

k=1
csc (tan
2
k tan
2
(k 1)) = csc tan
2
q. (12)
Similarly, use (7) to get a closed form for b) and get:
R
0
(q) =
q

k=1
2 csc (tan
4
k tan
4
(k 1)) = 2 csc tan
4
q. (13)
We now nd closed forms for P
1
(N) and R
1
(N), as dened in parts c) and d) of the problem
statement.
To proceed, let q be an integer such that 1 k q, with 0 < k < /2, and consider the
two functions
P
1
(; q) =
q

k=1
k sin(2k 1)
cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
= (q + 1)P
0
(, q)
q

k=1
P
0
(, k);
R
1
(; q) =
q

k=1
k sin(2k 1)(sin
2
+ sin
2
(2k 1))
cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
(14)
= (q + 1)R
0
(, q)
q

k=1
R
0
(, k).
The righthand sides of the two relations (14) follow from (11) applied to the pairs {P
1
(; q), P
0
(; q)}
and {R
1
(; q), R
0
(; q)} with
_
w
k
=
sin(2k 1)
cos
2
k cos
2
(k 1)
_
and
_
w
k
=
sin(2k 1)(sin
2
+ sin
2
(2k 1))
cos
4
k cos
4
(k 1)
_
,
94 VOLUME 50, NUMBER 1
ADVANCED PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
respectively. With Q = (N 1)/2, as in the problem statement, sums c) and d) are given
by
P
1
(N) = P
1
(; q)

=/N,q=Q
and R
1
(N) = R
1
(, q)

=/N,q=Q
. (15)
Using (12) and (13) into (14) then gives, with the help of (15):
P
1
(N) = csc

N
_
(Q + 1) tan
2
Q
N

Q

k=1
tan
2
k
N
_
;
(16)
R
1
(N) = 2 csc

N
_
(Q+ 1) tan
4
Q
N

Q

k=1
tan
4
k
N
_
.
We nally nd

Q
k=1
tan
2m k
N
for m = 1, 2, by invoking the general results obtained in [1].
According to equation (31) of [1],
Q

k=1
tan
2m
k
N
=
m

r=0
(1)
mr
_
m
r
_
S
2r
(N), m = 1, 2, 3, . . .
where
S
2r
(N) =
Q

k=1
sec
2r
k
N
, r 0.
For r = 0, we have
S
0
(N) = Q,
and for r = 1 we have, from (26) and (27) of [1]:
S
r
(N) =
_
r
k=1
a
k,r
(N
2k
2
2k
) r 1 N even,

r
k=1
(2
2k
1)a
k,r
(N
2k
1) r 1 N odd.
The a
k,r
coecients that appear in these expressions are calculated as shown in [1]. For the
cases of interest here, we need a
1,1
=
1
6
, a
1,2
=
1
9
, and a
2,2
=
1
90
(see second Table, p. 271 of
[1]). These values give:
For N even,
S
0
(N) =
N 2
2
, S
2
(N) = a
1,1
(N
2
4) =
(N 2)(N + 2)
6
,
S
4
(N) = a
1,2
(N
2
4) +a
2,2
(N
4
16) =
(N 2)(N + 2)(N
2
+ 14)
90
.
For N odd,
S
0
(N) =
N 1
2
, S
2
(N) = 3a
1,1
(N
2
1) =
(N 1)(N + 1)
2
,
S
4
(N) = 3a
1,2
(N
2
1) + 15a
2,2
(N
4
1) =
(N 1)(N + 1)(N
2
+ 3)
6
.
FEBRUARY 2012 95
THE FIBONACCI QUARTERLY
Terms are arranged to highlight common factors. Next collect terms and factorize to get
Q

k=1
tan
2
k
N
= S
2
(N) S
0
(N) =
_
(N1)(N2)
6
N even,
N(N1)
2
N odd,
Q

k=1
tan
4
k
N
= S
4
(N) 2S
2
(N) +S
0
(N) =
_
(N1)(N2)(N
2
+3N13)
90
N even,
N(N1)(N
2
+N3)
6
N odd.
These results can now be inserted in (16) to provide the sought closed forms and we nd:
P
1
(N) =
_
_
_
csc

N
_
N
2
tan
2
(N2)
2N

(N1)(N2)
6
_
N even,
csc

N
_
N+1
2
tan
2
(N1)
2N

N(N1)
2
_
N odd,
R
1
(N) =
_
_
_
2 csc

N
_
N
2
tan
4
(N2)
2N

(N1)(N2)(N
2
+3N13)
90
_
N even,
2 csc

N
_
N+1
2
tan
4
(N1)
2N

N(N1)(N
2
+N3)
6
_
N odd.
This completes the proof of the problem.
References
[1] N. Gauthier and Paul S. Bruckman, Sums of the even integral powers of the cosecant and secant, The
Fibonacci Quarterly, 44.3 (2006), 264273.
Also solved by Paul S. Bruckman.
Errata: In the solution to H-690, the expression
(1)
k(m+1)
n

k=1
_
_
_
F
2m
k
L
m
+
m/2

i=1
i

r=1
m
i
_
mi 1
i 1
__
i
r
_
(1)
kr
F
2(mr)
k
_
_
_
should be
n

k=1
_
_
_
(1)
k(m+1)
F
2m
k
L
m
+
m/2

i=1
i

r=1
m
i
_
mi 1
i 1
__
i
r
_
(1)
k(m+r+1)
F
2(mr)
k
_
_
_
.
96 VOLUME 50, NUMBER 1