This summation sums to zero. Why?

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The discussion centers on the mathematical expression involving a summation of products and its claim of equating to zero. Participants clarify that the equality's validity hinges on the definitions of the variables λ, r, and L. Specifically, when λ(m) is defined as m and both L and r are set to 2, the resulting calculation does not yield zero, instead resulting in 1/6. This indicates that the original claim may be incorrect or requires further specification of the parameters involved.

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EngWiPy
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Hi,

I am reading a paper, and at some point the authors claim that:

\sum_{m=1}^{L+1}\frac{\prod_{\substack{l=1\\l\neq m}}^{L+1}\frac{\lambda(m)}{\lambda(m)-\lambda(l)}}{\lambda^r(m)}=0

the question is HOW?

Any tiny hint will be highly appreciated.

Thanks
 
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In general there is no equality.
It must depend on the definitions of λ, r and L.
Can you provide more details?
 
Amir Livne said:
In general there is no equality.
It must depend on the definitions of λ, r and L.
Can you provide more details?

Lambdas are positive numbers, r is between 1 and L. That is all
 
I don't think that is correct.

Define \lambda(m)=m, and pick L=r=2. Then
\frac{\frac{\lambda(1)}{\left(\lambda(1)-\lambda(2)\right)\left(\lambda(1)-\lambda(3)\right)}}{\lambda(1)^2}+\frac{\frac{\lambda(2)}{\left(\lambda(2)-\lambda(1)\right)\left(\lambda(2)-\lambda(3)\right)}}{\lambda(2)^2}+\frac{\frac{\lambda(3)}{\left(\lambda(3)-\lambda(1)\right)\left(\lambda(3)-\lambda(2)\right)}}{\lambda(3)^2}=\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{6}=\frac{1}{6}
 

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