\(n\)-colour self-inverse compositions (Q852445)

An \(n\)-colored composition of \(m\) is a sequence of natural numbers whose sum is \(m\), where a part of size \(n\) can occur in \(n\) colors. For example, there are \(8\) \(n\)-colored compositions of \(3\), \[ 3_1,3_2,3_3, 2_11_1, 2_21_1, 1_12_1, 1_11_2, 1_11_11_1. \] Here the authors study the palindromic \(n\)-color compositions, which they call ``self-inverse''. Explicit formulas, recurrences, and generating functions are developed, and some identities are presented. For example, if \(a_m\) denotes the number of \(n\)-color self-conjugate compositions of \(2m+1\), then \[ \sum_{m \geq 0} a_m q^m = \frac{1+q}{q^2-3q+1} \] and \[ \sum_{m = 0}^n (-1)^{n+m} \begin{pmatrix} 2n+1 \\ n-m \end{pmatrix} a_m = 1. \]