How to prove that subset at odd size is equal to subset at even size?

Gauge Odom

Gauge Odom

Answered question

2022-09-07

How to prove that subset at odd size is equal to subset at even size?
I'm trying to prove that:
i = 0 n 2 ( n 2 i ) = i = 0 n 2 ( n 2 i + 1 )
if n is odd, I can do it with the identity: ( n k ) = ( n n k ) , because if we have odd number like 7 we have 4 ( = n 2 ) pairs: (7,0),(6,1),(5,2),(4,3). The left element is odd and the right one is even. So:
( 7 0 ) = ( 7 7 ) , ( 7 6 ) = ( 7 1 ) , . . .
But when I'm trying to do this about even numbers (like 8), I can't use this method.
So my question is: What can I do at cases of even numbers?

Answer & Explanation

Gerardo Kent

Gerardo Kent

Beginner2022-09-08Added 12 answers

Step 1
The claim is only true for non-empty sets A. There's a reason why the observation that (for any fixed element a A)
X X Δ { a }
Step 2
is a bijection from the even-sized subsets of A to the odd-sized subsets (as well as vice versa) is considered a simpler proof of the desired claim.
alinearjb

alinearjb

Beginner2022-09-09Added 10 answers

Step 1
I shall show how to prove this in the case n = 8, and it should be clear how this idea generalizes. You need to prove
( 8 0 ) + ( 8 2 ) + ( 8 4 ) + ( 8 6 ) + ( 8 8 ) = ? ( 8 1 ) + ( 8 3 ) + ( 8 5 ) + ( 8 7 )
Step 2
First, apply Pascals rule to each entry in the above purported equation except for ( 8 0 ) and ( 8 8 ) , which says that ( 8 k ) = ( 7 k ) + ( 7 k 1 ) . The result is
( 8 0 ) + [ ( 7 1 ) + ( 7 2 ) ] + [ ( 7 3 ) + ( 7 4 ) ] + [ ( 7 5 ) + ( 7 6 ) ] + ( 8 8 ) = [ ( 7 0 ) + ( 7 1 ) ] + [ ( 7 2 ) + ( 7 3 ) ] + [ ( 7 4 ) + ( 7 5 ) ] + [ ( 7 6 ) + ( 7 7 ) ]
After realizing that ( 8 0 ) = ( 7 0 ) and ( 8 8 ) = ( 7 7 ) , the last equation should be obvious.

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