MIT 18.

211: COMBINATORIAL ANALYSIS

FELIX GOTTI

Lecture 15: Generating Functions I: Generalized Binomial Theorem

and Fibonacci Sequence
In this lectures we start our journey through the realm of generating functions.
Roughly speaking, a generating function is a formal Taylor series centered at 0, that
is, a formal Maclaurin series. In general, if a function f (x) is smooth enough at x = 0,
then its Maclaurin series can be written as follows:
∞
X f (n) (0) n
(0.1) x ,
n=0
n!

where f (n) (x) is the n-th derivative of f (x). We know from Calculus that the Maclaurin
series of the function (1 − x)−1 is
∞
1 X
(0.2) = xn .
1 − x n=0
The Maclaurin series of every polynomial function is itself. In particular, the Bino-
mial Theorem gives us an explicit formula for the Maclaurin series/polynomial of any
nonnegative integer power of the binomial 1 + x:
m  
m
X m n
(1 + x) = x .
n=0
n
But what if we want to compute the Maclaurin series of (1 + x)r when r is not a
nonnegative integer?

Generalized Binomial Theorem. The Generalized Binomial Theorem allows us to

express (1 + x)r as a Maclaurin series using a natural generalization of the binomial
coefficients. For any r ∈ R and n ∈ N0 , we set
 
r r(r − 1) · · · r − n + 1
(0.3) := .
n n!
Observe that when r ∈ N0 , we recover the standard formula for the binomial coeffi-
cients. We are now in a position to generalize the Binomial Theorem.
1
2 F. GOTTI

Theorem 1. For any r ∈ R,

∞  
r
X r n
(0.4) (1 + x) = x .
n=0
n

Proof. Set f (x) = (1 +
x)r . For each n ∈ N0 , we see that f (n) (x) = (r)n (1 + x)r−n ,
and so f (n) (0)/n! = nr . Therefore the Maclaurin formula of f (x) is that one in the
right-hand side of (0.4). 
As an application of Theorem 1, we can generalize (0.2).
Example 2. Let us find the Maclaurin series of (1 − x)−m when m ∈ N. First, note
that for each n ∈ N0 ,
n−1
(−1)n
 
−m 1 Y
= (−m − i) = m(m + 1) · · · (m + n − 1)
n n! i=0 n!
 
n (m + n − 1)! n m+n−1
= (−1) = (−1) .
n!(m − 1)! m−1
Now in light of Theorem 1,
∞   ∞   ∞  
−m
X −m n X n m+n−1 n
X m+n−1
(1 + x) = x = (−1) x = (−x)n .
n=0
n n=0
m − 1 n=0
m − 1
Evaluating the previous identity at −x, we obtain that
∞  
−m
X m+n−1 n
(1 − x) = x .
n=0
m−1

Generating Function of a Sequence. P We can associate to any sequence (an )n≥0 of

real numbers the formal power series ∞ n=0 a n x n
. We call this P
formal power series the
(ordinary) generating function of the sequence (an )n≥0 . When ∞ n=0 an converges to a
function F (x) in some neighborhood of 0, we also call F (x) the (ordinary) generating
function of (an )n≥0 .
Example 3. The generating function of a sequence (an )n≥0 satisfying that an = 0 for
every n > d is the polynomial dn=0 an xn .
P

Example 4. It follows from (0.2) that (1 − x)−1 is the generating function of the
constant sequence all whose terms equal 1.
Example 5. For each m

∈ N, we have seen in Example 2 that the generating function
of the sequence m+n−1
m−1 n≥0
is (1 − x)−m .
We can actually use generating functions to find explicit formulas for linear recur-
rence relations. The following example illustrates how to do this.
 COMBINATORIAL ANALYSIS 3
Example 6. Consider the sequence (an )n≥0 recurrently defined as follows: P a0 = 2 and
an+1 = 5an for every n ∈ N0 . Let us find a closed formula for
Pa∞n . Let F (x) =P ∞ n=0 an x
n
n ∞ n
be the generating
P∞ function of the sequence (an )n≥0
P∞. Sincen n=0 an+1 x = n=0 5an x ,
n
P ∞ n+1
we see that n=1 an x = n=0 an+1 x = 5x n=0 an x and, therefore,
∞
X ∞
X
n
F (x) = 2 + an x = 2 + 5x an xn = 2 + 5xF (x).
n=1 n=0

Hence F (x) = 2(1 − 5x)−1 , and so

∞ ∞ ∞
X
n 2 X
n
X
an x = F (x) = =2 (5x) = 2 · 5n xn ,
n=0
1 − 5x n=0 n=0

from which we can obtain the desired explicit formula for an , namely, an = 2 · 5n for
every n ∈ N0 .

Recall that the Fibonacci sequence is defined by the recurrence Fn+1 = Fn + Fn−1 ,
where F0 = 0 and F1 = 1. Let us conclude this lecture providing an explicit formula
for the Fibonacci numbers.

Example 7. Let F (x) be the generating function of the Fibonacci sequence. Then
∞
X ∞
X ∞
X
n+1 n 2
F (x) − x = Fn+1 x =x Fn x + x Fn−1 xn−1 = xF (x) + x2 F (x).
n=1 n=1 n=1

Solving for F (x), we obtain that

 
x A B
F (x) = − 2 =− + ,
x +x−1 x−α x−β
for some A, B ∈ R, where α and β are the real roots of x2 + x − 1. From x =
α β
A(x − β) + B(x − α), we can readily deduce that A = α−β and B = β−α . Thus,
A B 1  x −1 1  x −1
F (x) = + = 1− + 1−
α−x β−x α−β α β−α β
∞ ∞ ∞
1 X x n  1 X x n X α−n
   β −n  n
= + = + x .
α − β n=0 α β − α n=0 β n=0
α−β β−α
√ √
−1+ 5 −1− 5
Taking α = 2
and β = ,
we obtain the following explicit formula:
2
√ √
1  2 n 1  2 n 1  1 + 5 n 1  1 − 5 n
Fn = √ √ −√ √ =√ −√ .
5 −1 + 5 5 −1 − 5 5 2 5 2
4 F. GOTTI

Practice Exercises
Exercise 1. Consider the sequence (an )n≥0 satisfying that a0 = 3 and an+1 = 5an + 7n
for every n ∈ N0 . Find an explicit formula for an .

Exercise 2. Find a closed form for the generating function of the sequence (n2 )n≥0 .

Department of Mathematics, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139

Email address: fgotti@mit.edu