Ballot sequences and a determinant of Good's (Q1068827): Difference between revisions

Enumerative methods are used to prove Good's conjecture regarding the value of the determinant \(D_ n(x)=| xI-nAC|,\) where \(A=(a_{ij})_{n\times n},\quad a_{ij}=S_{i,j-1}+S_{i-1,j},\quad C=I-n^{-1}J,\) I is \(n\times n\) identity matrix and J is the \(n\times n\) matrix of all 1's. The combinatorial structures used are the generalized Ballot sequences, which correspond to random walks with two reflecting barriers. The generating function for this set is determined and a linear recurrence for \(D_ n(x)\) is also obtained.