Article history: Received 5 June 2009 Accepted 1 August 2009 Available online 7 August 2009

We show how lattice paths and the re ection principle can be used to give easy proofs of unimodality results. In particular, we give a \one-line" combinatorial proof of the unimodality of the binomial coe cients. Other examples include products of binomial coe cients, polynomials related to the Legendre polynomials, and a result connected to a conjecture of Simion.

Abstract. For any positive integer n and variables a and x we define the generalized Legendre polynomial Pn(a, x) by Pn(a, x) = Pn k=0 a k −1−a k ( 1−x 2 ). Let p be an odd prime. In this paper we prove many congruences modulo p related to Pp−1(a, x). For example, we show that Pp−1(a, x) ≡ (−1)〈a〉p Pp−1(a,−x) (mod p), where a is a rational p− adic integer and 〈a〉p is the least nonnegative resid...

We combine the Lie algebraic methods and the technicalities associated with the monomialty principle to obtain new results concerning Legendre polynomial expansions. c © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Let I[f ] = ∫ 1 −1 f(x) dx, where f ∈ C ∞(−1, 1), and let Gn[f ] = ∑n i=1 wnif(xni) be the n-point Gauss–Legendre quadrature approximation to I[f ]. In this paper, we derive an asymptotic expansion as n → ∞ for the error En[f ] = I[f ]−Gn[f ] when f(x) has general algebraic-logarithmic singularities at one or both endpoints. We assume that f(x) has asymptotic expansions of the forms f(x) ∼ ∞ ∑ ...

We analyze the problem facing the team that wins the toss at the deciding fifth set of a volleyball match. The team’s decision to serve or to receive the service can make a difference to the eventual outcome of the match. We characterize the conditions under which it is better to serve or to receive the service at that set. These conditions are obtained by first expressing the exact probability...

The analyzing power of pp → ppπ 0 reaction has been measured at the beam energy of 390 MeV. The missing mass technique of final protons has been applied to identify the π 0 production event. The dependences of the analyzing power on the pion emission-angle and the relative momentum of the protons have been obtained. The angular dependence could be decomposed by the Legendre polynomial and the r...

The optimal control problem of a linear distributed parameter system is studied via shifted Legendre polynomials (SLPs) in this paper. The partial differential equation, representing the linear distributed parameter system, is decomposed into an n set of ordinary differential equations, the optimal control problem is transformed into a two-point boundary value problem, and the twopoint boundary...

In this paper, a method for finding an approximate solution of a class of two-dimensional nonlinear Volterra integral equations of the first-kind is proposed. This problem is transformedto a nonlinear two-dimensional Volterra integral equation of the second-kind. The properties ofthe bivariate shifted Legendre functions are presented. The operational matrices of integrationtogether with the produ...

In this article, we apply the operational matrix to find the numerical solution of two- dimensional nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equation (2DNVIDE). Form this prospect, two-dimensional shifted Legendre functions (2DSLFs) has been presented for integration, product as well as differentiation. This method converts 2DNVIDE to an algebraic system of equations, so the numerical solution o...