For nonnegative integers , the alternating binomial moment satisfies when and . Expand the polynomial in falling factorials and differentiate the binomial theorem to prove these identities. Equivalently, alternating binomial coefficients implement a finite difference that annihilates polynomials of degree less than .
Bernstein basis 2026-10-05
These nonnegative polynomials form a basis of polynomials of degree at most , and sum to one on . For ,
where ratios for equal one and terms with vanish. The identity follows from and the binomial theorem. It gives explicit basis coefficients using the falling factorial.
For and , the Bernstein polynomial of the monomial satisfies
It follows by applying and expanding with the binomial theorem. The coefficients sum to one; only the first tends to one as . Induction on proves uniform convergence of these monomial approximants, starting from .
Even part of a polynomial 2026-10-06
The even part of a polynomial is . It retains exactly the terms whose exponents are even. Applied to the binomial theorem, it extracts sums of even-indexed binomial coefficients.
Every odd composite integer has an Euler witness. For a nonsquarefree integer, a base congruent to modulo a repeated prime factor fails the Euler congruence by the binomial theorem. For a squarefree integer, use the Chinese remainder theorem to choose a base that is a quadratic nonresidue modulo one prime factor and modulo another. Its Jacobi symbol is , while its power is modulo the second factor.
If is a derivation of a Lie algebra, then its generalized eigenspaces satisfy
Apply a sufficiently large power of and use the binomial theorem together with the derivation rule.