Math 341 Homework 1

• Due Friday, January 24.

• You are allowed (and encouraged) to use results proved in class on your homework.

• Collaboration Policy: You are welcome (and encouraged) to work on the homework in
groups. However, each student must write up the homework on their own, and must use their
own wording (i.e. don’t jusy copy the solutions from your friend). If you do collaborate with
others, please list the name of your collaborators at the top of the homework.

• You are encouraged (though not required) to type up your solutions. If you choose to do
this, I strongly recommend that you use the typesetting software LaTeX. LaTeX is used by
the entire mathematics community, and if you intend to go into math, you’ll need to learn
it sooner or later. “The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX” is a good place to start.
This guide can be found at http://tug.ctan.org/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf . You can also
download the .tex source file for this homework and take a look at that.

• Each homework problem should be correct as stated. Occasionally, however, I might screw
something up and give you an impossible homework problem. If you believe a problem is
incorrect, please email me. If you are right, the first person to point out an error will get +1
on that homework, and I will post an updated version.

Sets

For these problems, we will need some notation not discussed in class. If S and T are sets, S ∪ T
is the set containing all elements that are in S or in T (or in both). This is called the union of S
and T . Similarly, S ∩ T is the set containing all elements that are in S and in T . This is called
the intersection of S and T . We can extend this definition to take a union of multiple sets. For
example, if S1 , . . . Sk are sets, we write S1 ∪ S2 ∪ . . . ∪ Sk , or bigcupki=1 Si to denote the union
of S1 , . . . , Sk ; this is the set of elementsTthat are contained in at least one of the sets S1 , . . . , Sk .
Similarly, we write S1 ∩ S2 ∩ . . . ∩ Sk = ki=1 Si to denote the intersection of S1 , . . . , Sk ; this is the
set of elements that are contained in all of the sets S1 , . . . , Sk .
1. Let S and T be sets of finite cardinality (i.e. both |S| and |T | are finite). Prove that

|S ∪ T | = |S| + |T | − |S ∩ T |.

|S ∪ T | includes every element that belongs to both S and T , but we counted every element that
belongs to both S and T twice. Therefore, we need to subtract the overcount, which is −|S ∩ T |.
2. Let S be a nonempty set. Without using the binomial theorem, prove that S has the same
number of subsets of even and of odd cardinality. Hint: it might be useful to consider the cases
where |S| is even and where |S| is odd separately.
The number of subsets with cardinality k is equal to nk . The identity nk = n−k
n




will be used
in the following proof.

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 For odd n = |S|, we have that n − k and k are always one odd and one even for all k. Therefore,
each odd index is paired with an even index, leaving the number of even and odd subsets equal.
   
n n
=
0 n
   
n n
=
1 n−1
   
n n
=
2 n−2
···
and so on. Since the binomial coefficients for even indices are matched with their corresponding
odd indices, by symmetry, the sum of the binomial coefficients with even indices is equal to the
sum of those with odd indices. More precisely,
X  n X n
= .
k k
k even k odd

We now consider even n: We once again would like to prove that

X  n X n
= .
k k
k even k odd

. Expanding this out we get:

               
n n n n n n n n
+ + + ··· + = + + + ···
0 2 4 n 1 3 5 n−1
           
n n n n n n
− + − + · · · + (−1)n−1 + (−1)n =0
0 1 2 3 n−1 n
We use the identity      
n n−1 n−1
= + .
k k−1 k
               
n n−1 n−1 n−1 n−1 n−1 n−1 n
− + + + ··· − + +
0 0 1 1 2 n−2 n−1 n
               
n n−1 n−1 n−1 n−1 n−1 n−1 n
− − + + ··· − − +
0 0 1 1 2 n−2 n−1 n
We notice that we have a telescoping series, where every 2 adjacent terms cancel out, leaving us
with 0. Therefore, the number of odd and even subsets when n is even is indeed equal.
3. Let k and n be positive integers. Let A1 , . . . Ak be sets. Suppose that
k
[
Ai = n2 ,
i=1

that
|Ai | ≥ 2n for every 1 ≤ i ≤ k,

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and that
|Ai ∩ Aj | ≤ 1 for every 1 ≤ i < j ≤ k.
Prove that k ≤ n.
|Ai ∩ Aj | ≤ 1 means that every pair of elements has at most one common element. By the
second condition, if every set has more than 2n elements, the total number of elements amongst
sets A1 , . . . Ak is greater than or equal to 2n · k. However, each pair of sets has at most one common
element, and there are k(k−1) 2 pairs in total. We need to account for the overcount by subtracting
this from 2n · k. Therefore, we have the following inequality
k
[ k(k − 1)
Ai = n2 ≥ 2n · k − .
2
i=1

We now show that k ≤ n.

k(k − 1)
n2 ≥ 2n · k −
2
k(k − 1)
n2 − 2nk + ≥0
2
k2 k
n2 − 2nk + − ≥0
2 2
Using the quadratic formula to isolate n, we get
p
2k ± (−2k)2 − 2(k − 1)k
n=
2
p
(−2k)2 − 2(k − 1)k
n=k±
2
Since n is positive, it cannot be negative so we take the positive discriminant. The discriminant is
greater than or equal to 0, we have that k ≤ n.

Binomial theorem
4. Let p be a prime number. Prove that there exists a polynomial Q(x) with positive integer
coefficients so that
(1 + x)p − (1 + xp ) = pQ(x).
If we expand (1 + x)p with the binomial theorem, we get:

p  
X
p−k k p
1 x .
k
k=0

Expanding the summation and omitting the 1 term, we get:

         
p p p p 2 p 3 p p
(1 + x) = + x+ x + x + ··· + x .
0 1 2 3 p

Subtracting the above with (1 + xp ) we get:

       
p p 2 p 3 p
x+ x + x + ··· + xp−1 .
1 2 3 p−1

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Finally, if we multiply the polynomial above by p1 , we obtain Q(x). That is,

p! p! p! p!
= x+ x2 + x3 + · · · + xp−1 .
(p − 1)!1!p (p − 2)!2!p (p − 3)!3!p (p − 1)!1!p

(p − 1)! (p − 1)! 2 (p − 1)! 3 (p − 1)! p−1

= x+ x + x + ··· + x .
(p − 1)!1! (p − 2)!2! (p − 3)!3! (p − 1)!1!
(p − 1)! 1 (p − 1)! 1 (p − 1)! 1 (p − 1)! 1
= · x+ x2 + x3 + · · · + xp−1 .
(p − 2)!1! (p − 1) (p − 3)!2! (p − 2) (p − 4)!3! (p − 3) (p − 2)!1! (p − 1)
1
All terms (p−k) cancel out with one term with the factorial at the top, so therefore we have an
integer remaining. Therefore, all coefficients in Q(x) are integers.
5. Prove that for every positive integer n and every integer k, we have
   
n n−1
k =n .
k k−1
Hint: there’s
a reason this is is in the “Binomial Theorem” section.
Rewriting nk we get:
 
n
(1)
k
n!
= (2)
k!(n − k)!
n (n − 1)!
= (3)
k (k − 1)!(n − k)!
 
n n−1
= (4)
k k−1
Therefore,    
n n−1
k =n .
k k−1
.

The size of n!
6. Recall that a polynomial is a function of the form P (n) = aC nC + aC−1 nC−1 + . . . + a0 , where
C ≥ 0 is an integer and a0 , . . . , aC are real numbers. Prove that for every polynomial P , there
exists a number N so that n! > P (n) for all n ≥ N .
Proof by induction. We assume n! > P (n). Then we have:

(n + 1)! = (n + 1)n! > (n + 1)P (n)

(n + 1)P (n) = (n + 1)(aC nC + aC−1 nC−1 + . . . + a0 )

= aC nC+1 + aC nC + aC−1 nC + aC−1 nC−1 + aC−2 nC−1 · · · + a0
= aC nC+1 + (aC + aC−1 )nC + (aC−1 + aC−2 )nC−1 + · · · + a0
We see that the above polynomial is bigger than P (n + 1) = aC (n + 1)C + aC−1 (n + 1)C−1 + · · · + a0
because the degree of this polynomial is C, and the degree of (n + 1)P (n) is C + 1.
So, (n + 1)P (n) > P (n + 1).

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 Since we have (n + 1)! > P (n + 1), our inductive step holds.
7. Prove that for every real number C > 1, there exists a number N so that n! > C n for all n ≥ N .
√
Let N = C C . Then, we have C ≤ C n ≤ n.
Expanding n! we get:

n(n − 1)(n − 2) · · · (C + 1) · C · · · 3 · 2 · 1

≥ n · C n−C · · · 3 · 2 · 1
≥ C C · C n−C · · · 3 · 2 · 1
as n ≥ C C .
= Cn · · · 3 · 2 · 1
≥ C n,
as required.

Statistical physics and entropy

8. In this problem we will investigate the entropy of two different gases in the same box using
the lattice model discussed in class. Consider the system consisting of k1 oxygen molecules and
k2 nitrogen molecules in a box. The box contains n possible locations where a gas molecule can
reside, and at most one molecule can be located in each location. All oxygen molecules are indis-
tinguishable, and all nitrogen molecules are indistinguishable, but oxygen and nitrogen molecules
can be distinguished from each other. What is the entropy of this system? Prove that your answer
is correct.
n


There are k1 +k 2
ways to choose the k1 + k2 possible locations for the molecules. If the k1
oxygen molecules and k2 nitrogen molecules are indistinguishable amongst each other, there are
(k1 +k2 )!
k1 !k2 ! unique orderings of them. Overall we have

n! (k1 + k2 )! n!
· = .
(n − k1 − k2 )!(k1 + k2 )! k1 !k2 ! (n − k1 − k2 )!k1 !k2 !
Using Boltzmann’s entropy formula, we have:
 
n!
S = kB ln
(n − k1 − k2 )!k1 !k2 !

9. Consider a system consisting of k oxygen molecules in a box. The box contains n possible
locations. Will adding an additional oxygen molecule to the box increase the entropy of the system?
Prove that your answer is correct. (Hint: the answer may depend on  the value
 of k and n).
n!
Before adding the oxygen molecule, the entropy is S = kB ln (n−k)!k! . After adding it the
 
entropy is S ′ = kB ln (n−k−1)!(k+1)!
n!
If the entropy increases upon adding a molecule, we have:

S′
> 1.
S
Substituting the values of S ′ and S we get:
 
n!
kB ln (n−k−1)!(k+1)!
 
n!
kB ln (n−k)!k!

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If the number of microstates increases, then the entropy will increase. Thus, we check whether
 
n!
(n−k−1)!(k+1)!
  > 1.
n!
(n−k)!k!

n! (n − k)!k!
= ·
(n − k − 1)!(k + 1)! n!
n−k
= >1
k+1
n−k >k+1
n > 2k + 1
When we have n > 2k + 1, the entropy of the system will increase.