6

When I was playing with Binomial coefficients. I got an interesting problem. It is very nice formula. The problem is

$$\large \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{1}{\binom{2n}{n}}$$

where $\binom{2n}{n}$ represents the number of ways of selecting $n$ different things from $2n$ different things. I will provide the solution below.

  • http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/548563/calculate-sum-limits-k-0-infty-frac12k-choose-k/548570#548570 – Ron Gordon Dec 27 '15 at 15:47
  • @ron gardon - Sorry!!I don't know tjat the problem is already posted. – Surya Prakash Dec 27 '15 at 16:04
  • It doesn't make you a bad person. This is IMO a huge issue for this site: improving the search facilities to cover MathJax. That way it will be easier to know whether a problem has been posted. Going forward, it may be wise to assume that a problem has been posted here and try to find it. If you can't, then post the question - the worst that can happen is it gets closed as a duplicate. – Ron Gordon Dec 27 '15 at 16:06
  • @RonGordon - Then how can I identify whether the problem which I want to post is already there or not. – Surya Prakash Dec 27 '15 at 16:15

1 Answers1

4

Before we start the solution we shall learn about two functions.

1) Gamma Function: It is represented by $\Gamma(x)$ and it is given by the expression

$$\Gamma(x) = \int_{0}^{\infty} e^{-t} t^{x-1} dt$$

It has some special properties. I shall mention those properties but not their proofs.

  • $\Gamma(x+1) = x \Gamma(x)$. This can be proved by integration by parts.

  • $\Gamma(1) = 1$.

  • Gamma function is undefined for non-positive integers.

  • For every non-negative integer $n$, $\Gamma(n+1) = n!$

2) Beta Function: It is represented by $B(x,y)$ and it is given by the expression

$$B(x,y) = \int_{0}^{1} t^{x-1}(1-t)^{y-1} dt$$

Relation between Gamma and Beta function:

$$B(x,y) = \dfrac{\Gamma(x) \Gamma(y)}{\Gamma(x+y)}$$

Now let us move on to evaluating our summation. You should need to know another thing i.e. the value of $\binom{2n}{n} = \dfrac{(2n)!}{(n)! (n)!}$

First we shall convert the factorial into Beta function.

$$\begin{align*} \binom{2n}{n} &= \dfrac{(2n)!}{(n)! (n)!} \\ &= \dfrac{\Gamma(2n+1)}{\Gamma(n+1) \Gamma(n+1)} \\ &= \dfrac{1}{2n+1} \dfrac{(2n+1)\Gamma(2n+1)}{\Gamma(n+1) \Gamma(n+1)} \\ &= \dfrac{1}{2n+1} \dfrac{\Gamma(2n+2)}{\Gamma(n+1) \Gamma(n+1)} \\ \dfrac{1}{\binom{2n}{n}} &= (2n+1) \dfrac{\Gamma(n+1) \Gamma(n+1)}{\Gamma(2n+2)}\\ &= (2n+1) B(n+1,n+1) \end{align*}$$

$$\begin{align*} \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{1}{\binom{2n}{n}} &= \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} (2n+1) \int_{0}^{1} t^n(1-t)^n dt \\ &= \int_{0}^{1} \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} (2n+1)(t(1-t))^n dt \end{align*}$$

Here, we have to evaluate an infinite summation i.e. $1+3x+5x^2 + 7x^3 + \ldots$.

$$\begin{align*} S &=1+3x+5x^2 + 7x^3 + \ldots \\ &= (1+ 2x+2x^2 + 2x^3 + \ldots ) + (x + 3x^2 + 5x^3 + \ldots ) \\ &= 2(1+x+x^2 +x^3 +\ldots) +xS -1 \\ S(1-x) &= \dfrac{2}{1-x} - 1 \\ S &= \dfrac{2}{(1-x)^2} - \dfrac{1}{1-x} \end{align*}$$

So, $$\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} (2n+1)x^n = \dfrac{2}{(1-x)^2} - \dfrac{1}{1-x} \\ \implies \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} (2n+1)(t(1-t))^n = \dfrac{2}{(1-t+t^2)^2} - \dfrac{1}{1-t+t^2} $$

$$\int_{0}^{1} \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} (2n+1)(t(1-t))^n dt = \int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{2}{(1-t+t^2)^2} dt - \int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{1}{1-t+t^2} dt $$

Now we have to evaluate the above integrals.

Let $ I=\int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{1}{1-t+t^2} dt$ and $J = \int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{1}{(1-t+t^2)^2} dt$

First Integral (I):

$$\begin{align*} I &= \int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{1}{1-t+t^2} dt \\ &= \int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{1}{(t-1/2)^2 + (\sqrt{3}/2)} dt \quad \text{Take the substitution } y= t- 1/2 \\ &= \int_{-1/2}^{1/2} \dfrac{1}{y^2 + (\sqrt{3}/2)^2} dy \\ &= \dfrac{2}{\sqrt{3}} \arctan \left(2y/\sqrt{3} \right) \Bigr|_{-1/2}^{1/2} \\ &= \dfrac{2}{\sqrt{3}} \dfrac{\pi}{3} \\ &=\dfrac{2 \pi}{3 \sqrt{3}} \end{align*}$$

Second Integral (J):

$$\begin{align*} J &= \int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{1}{(1-t+t^2)^2} dt \\ &= \int_{0}^{1} \dfrac{1}{((t-1/2)^2 + (\sqrt{3}/2)^2)^2} dt \quad \text{Take the substitution } y= t-1/2 \\ &= \int_{-1/2}^{1/2} \dfrac{1}{(y^2 + (\sqrt{3}/2)^2)^2} dy \quad \text{Take the substitution } y= \dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{2} \tan \theta \\ &= \dfrac{8}{3 \sqrt{3}} \int_{-\pi /6}^{\pi /6} \cos^2 \theta d \theta \\ &= \dfrac{4}{3 \sqrt{3}} \int_{\pi /6}^{\pi /6} (1+ \cos (2 \theta)) d \theta \\ &= \dfrac{4}{3 \sqrt{3}} \left( \dfrac{\pi}{3} + \dfrac{\sqrt{3}}{2} \right) \end{align*}$$

Now,

$$\begin{align*} \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \dfrac{1}{\binom{2n}{n}} &= 2J - I \\ &= \boxed{\large{\dfrac{2 \pi}{9 \sqrt{3}}} + \dfrac{4}{3}} \end{align*}$$