Formal Power Series
- A formal power series (or formal series) is an expression of the form , where are coefficients.
(Unlike a power series, a formal power series is not necessarily convergent, and the variable is treated as an indeterminate, and is not assigned a value. The series is treated as an algebraic object, rather than a function to be evaluated.)
Operations
- (Addition)
- (Multiplication) where
- (Division) where (assuming )
- Extracting coefficientstodo
- (Composition)todo
Generating Functions
- A generating function is a representation of an infinite sequence of numbers as the coefficients of a formal power series.
- The (ordinary) generating function for the sequence is the formal power series defined by
todo read https://enumeration.ca/toolbox/generating-functions/
Usage
Usage for number of solutions
Generating function can also be used for number of nonnegative solutions of equation: . Then the coefficient of in the following generating function is the number of solutions.
Restrictions
Restriction for all Addends:
Special case example: a number of solutions of equation: . such that for any . The coefficient of in the following generating function is the number of solutions. Example generalization: a number of solutions of equation: . such that for any . The coefficient of in the following generating function is the number of solutions.
Equation with Coefficients Greater than 1
Number of solutions of equation . ^[question 7.13] The coefficient of in the following generating function is the number of solutions.
Partition
See Partition
Useful Generating Functions
Infinte Sum
Closed-form | GF | Sequence | |
---|---|---|---|
depends on a const. | |||
( is a const.) | |||
Multiset coefficient
Closed-form | GF | Sequence |
---|---|---|
Finte sum
Closed-form | GF | Coefficients | |
---|---|---|---|
depends on a const. | |||
depends on a const. |
OLD
Generating function | |||
---|---|---|---|
basic | |||
multiplied by | |||
, and multiplied by | |||
multiplied by |