Undergrad Conflicting Conventions for Bernoulli Numbers?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the conflicting conventions for Bernoulli numbers as outlined in the Wikipedia article. It highlights that the two expressions for Bernoulli numbers are equivalent for m>1, with the only difference occurring at m=1. The conversation confirms that the additional terms in the second expression can indeed cancel out due to the properties of binomial coefficients as defined by Pascal's triangle. This clarification resolves the initial confusion regarding the interpretation of the expressions.

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  • Familiarity with binomial coefficients and Pascal's triangle
  • Basic knowledge of mathematical notation and conventions
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nomadreid
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TL;DR
In the Wiki article on Bernoulli numbers, it gives two expressions that, if I understand correctly, are supposed to be equal except at one point. But I am not sure I understand it correctly
In the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli_number on Bernoulli’s numbers, it explains that there are two conventions which differ only at m=1. Then it says…

Bernoulli1.PNG


Under “explicit definitions”, it gives, for m>1

Bernoulli2.PNG


So, it seems pretty straightforward that they are saying that (except for m=1) these two expressions are equal, but that all the extra terms in the second expression (+) not included in the first one (-) would cancel out seems so incredible that I think I might be misinterpreting something. Am I?

Thanks
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
The expansion of ##(v+1)^m## follows Pascal's triangle, hence binomial coefficients, so yes, the terms can cancel out.
 
Thanks, DrClaude
 

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