Summing finite polynomial series
The authors describe a method for calculating the sum \(\sum_{n=1}^{m}f(n) \), where \(f\) is a polynomial function. For that purpose, they consider polynomials \(p_{j}( n) =n( n+1)\cdots (n+j-1) \) \((j\geq1) .\) They observe that \(\sum_{n=1} ^{m}p_{j}(n) =\frac{1}{j+1}p_{j+1}(m),\) and show that \(\{p_{1}(n) ,\dots,p_{k}(n)\} \) is a basis for the module of polynomials of degree \(\leq k.\) If a polynomial \(f\) with \(f(0) =0\) is represented by \(f(n) =\sum_{j=1}^{k}a_{j}p_{j}(n) ,\) then \(\sum_{n=1}^{m}f(n) =\sum_{j=1}^{k}\frac{a_{j}}{j+1}p_{j+1}(m) .\)
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