8
$\begingroup$

One of the more utilized determinant is that of Vandermonde's

$$\begin{vmatrix} 1&x_1&x_1^2&\dots&x_1^{n-1}\\ 1&x_2&x_2^2&\dots&x_2^{n-1}\\ \ldots&\ldots&\ldots&\ldots&\ldots\\ 1&x_n&x_n^2&\dots&x_n^{n-1}\\ \end{vmatrix}=\prod\limits_{1\leq i<j\leq n}(x_j-x_i).$$ In short, we write $\det(x_i^{j-1})$. I became curious of a Hankel-type (not quite) formulation of these monomial entries as $\det(x_{i+j}^{j-1})$. A quick check reveal that the latter has no neat evaluation.

On the other hand, if we specialize $x_{i+j}$ to the numerical values $i+j$ then it appears that $$\det((i+j)^{j-1})=\prod_{k=1}^{n-1}k!\tag1$$

Question. Why is true?

Remark. The above evaluation equals the familiar $\det(i^{j-1})$ which OEIS lists as A000178 with many interpretations, including other determinants but (1) is not one of them.

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

13
$\begingroup$

Here is a slightly more general version: If $P_n(x)$ are some polynomials of degree $n-1$ with leading term $a_nx^{n-1}$ then $$\det(P_j(x_i))=\prod_{j=1}^n a_n\prod\limits_{1\leq i<j\leq n}(x_j-x_i).$$ The proof is a simple reduction to Vandermonde's determinant. The first column is all constant, and every column after that can be written as the vector $a_j(x_1^{j-1},\dots,x_n^{j-1})^{T}$ minus a linear combination of previous columns. Therefore a collection of elementary column operations bring our matrix to the form $(a_jx_i^{j-1})$.

Your determinant corresponds to the case $P_n(x)=(x+n)^{n-1}$.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.