Prove that
is the square of an integer.
Prove that
is the square of an integer.
By replacing 2013 with 1, 2, 3, and 4 and then calculating the sum, you get a hunch for which number squared this sum yields. The factorials suggest that you should look in the binomial coefficients. We prove something more general:
From this, the desired result follows.
It holds that
Thus, it is sufficient to prove that
We do this combinatorially. Consider balls numbered from 1 to , where the balls from 1 to are colored blue and the balls from to are colored red. You want to choose a total of balls. This can be done in ways. On the other hand, we can also first choose blue balls, with , and then choose red balls. This is equivalent to first choosing blue balls and then not choosing red balls. Thus, the number of ways to choose balls is also equal to
Therefore, this sum is equal to . And with that, we have proven (1).