Binomial expansion comparison with legendre polynomial expansion

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the comparison between binomial expansion and Legendre polynomial expansion, specifically the expression for Legendre polynomials given by {{P}_{n}}(x)=\frac{1}{{{2}^{n}}n!}\frac{{{d}^{n}}}{d{{x}^{n}}}{{\left( {{x}^{2}}-1 \right)}^{n}}. Participants analyze the derivatives of the binomial expansion of (x²-1)ⁿ and identify discrepancies in the limits of summation and the powers of x. Key insights include the necessity to adjust the power of x in the n-th derivative and the importance of excluding terms that yield zero when differentiating. The discussion concludes with a resolution of the initial confusion regarding the series comparison.

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linda300
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Hi,

I've been working on this question which asks to show that

{{P}_{n}}(x)=\frac{1}{{{2}^{n}}n!}\frac{{{d}^{n}}}{d{{x}^{n}}}{{\left( {{x}^{2}}-1 \right)}^{n}}

So first taking the n derivatives of the binomial expansions of (x2-1)n

{{({{x}^{2}}-1)}^{n}}=\sum\limits_{k=0}^{n}{{{(-1)}^{k}}\frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}{{x}^{2n-2k}}}

\frac{{{d}^{n}}}{d{{x}^{n}}}...=\sum\limits_{k=0}^{n}{{{(-1)}^{k}}\frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}(2n-2k)(2n-2k-1)...(2n-2k-n+1){{x}^{2n-2k}}}
=n!\sum\limits_{k=0}^{n}{{{(-1)}^{k}}\frac{(2n-2k)!}{k!(n-k)!(n-2k)!}{{x}^{2n-2k}}}and comparing it with{{P}_{n}}(x)=\sum\limits_{m=0}^{M}{{{(-1)}^{m}}\frac{(2n-2m)!}{{{2}^{n}}m!(n-m)!(n-2m)!}{{x}^{n-2m}}},\,\,\,\,M=\frac{n}{2},\frac{n-1}{2}

=\frac{1}{{{2}^{n}}}\sum\limits_{m=0}^{\frac{n}{2}}{{{(-1)}^{m}}\frac{(2n-2m)!}{m!(n-m)!(n-2m)!}{{x}^{n-2m}}}

I'm having trouble with the final part,

It's clear that there's a factor of 1/n!2n difference between them but also

the Pn(x) series has m=0...n/2, and also xn , where as the n'th derivative series has k=0...n and x2n.

How can you rewrite one in terms of the other so they both have the same sum limits?

I've tried setting k=2s in the n'th derivative series and a bunch of other similar changes, but non will change the n'th powers of x.

The reason I noticed this was because the last terms of the series arn't the same,

the first series has last term, (-n)! on the bottom, means 1/infinity right?

n!{{(-1)}^{n}}\frac{0!}{n!0!(-n)!}

and the second

\frac{1}{{{2}^{n}}}{{(-1)}^{\frac{n}{2}}}\frac{n!}{n!(\frac{n}{2})!0!}{{x}^{0}}

Have I made a mistake early on or is there a clever way to combine the two series?

Thanks,

Linda
 
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Hi linda300! :smile:

The factor 1/n!2n is already present in your first equation, so that is not a difference.

When you took the n-th derivative, you didn't lower the power of x by n, so you should have xn-2k instead of x2n-2k

Finally, when you take the derivative of x0 you should get zero, and not a negative power of x.
So you should leave out the first n/2 terms, since they are all zero.
 
Thanks heaps for taking the time to find my silly mistakes!

=D
 

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