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A Pattern of Signs
Shailesh A Shirali
math@rishivalley.org

July 25, 2011

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Abstract
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We describe an amusing trail involving a pattern of signs. When applied to the sequences of squares, cubes, etc, the patterns yield unexpected results which look quite magical at rst sight. But the underlying algebra is very simple.

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Take any four consecutive integers a, b, c, d. Then it is obvious that a + d = b + c; that is, the sum of the rst and last number equals the sum of the middle two numbers Let us write this relation as +a b c + d = 0. Note the sequence of signs: +, , , + . We shall write the above statement in the following form: The sign sequence +, , , + yields a sum of 0. if applied to any 4 consecutive integers

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For example, if the 4 consecutive integers are 12, 13, 14, 15 we have: +12 13 14 + 15 = 0. Now reverse all the signs in this string; we get the string , +, +, . Concatenating these two strings of length 4 together we get the following string:
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+, , , +, , +, +, , of length 8. Now here is a surprising fact:

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The sign sequence +, , , +, , +, +, if applied to any 8 consecutive squares yields a sum of 0.

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For example, take the 8 consecutive squares 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100. We have now: +9 16 25 + 36 49 + 64 + 81 100 = 0. Please verify this statement. Then try it out on other collections of 8 consecutive squares.

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Now take the string +, , , +, , +, +, and reverse all its signs; we get the string , +, +, , +, , , + . Concatenating these two strings of length 8 together, we get the following string: +, , , +, , +, +, , , +, +, , +, , , + , of length 16. Here is the next surprising fact: The sign sequence +, , , +, , +, +, , , +, +, , +, , , +

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if applied to any 16 consecutive cubes yields a sum of 0. Here is an example: take the 16 consecutive cubes 27, 64, 125, 216, 343, 512, 729, 1000, 1331, 1728, 2197, 2744, 3375, 4096, 4913, 5832. Applying the sign sequence just given to these numbers we get: + 27 64 125 + 216 343 + 512 + 729 1000 1331 + 1728 + 2197 2744 + 3375 4096 4913 + 5832 = 0.

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Try it out for other collections of 16 consecutive cubes! I guess you will be able to guess what comes next in this sequence of statements .... Why do we have such a pattern?

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Explanation
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Dene f1 by f1 (n) = n (n + 1); obviously, f1 (n) = 1 for all n. Hence f1 (n) = f1 (n + 2),

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i.e., f1 (n) f1 (n + 2) = 0, which yields: n (n + 1) (n + 2) + (n + 3) = 0. Note a corollary to this: If g(n) is any linear expression in n, then the quantity g(n) g(n + 1) g(n + 2) + g(n + 3)
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is identically 0. The reason should be clear.

The sequence of squares

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Next, let f2 (n) = n2 (n + 1)2 (n + 2)2 + (n + 3)2 . Note that we have used the pattern of signs obtained at the end of the preceding step. It is obvious what will be the outcome of this formulation, even without doing any computation: the n2 terms will cancel out, while the linear terms will yield 0 by virtue of the comment made just above; so f2 (n) will reduce to a constant, whose value will be 12 22 + 32 = 4. Hence we have this identity: n2 (n + 1)2 (n + 2)2 + (n + 3)2 = 4.

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From this relation we get, for any n,

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n2 (n + 1)2 (n + 2)2 + (n + 3)2 = (n + 4)2 (n + 5)2 (n + 6)2 + (n + 7)2 , implying that the following relation is true for all n:

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n2 (n + 1)2 (n + 2)2 + (n + 3)2 (n + 4)2 + (n + 5)2 + (n + 6)2 (n + 7)2 = 0. As earlier, we have a corollary which follows naturally: If h(n) is any quadratic expression in n, then the quantity h(n) h(n + 1) h(n + 2) + h(n + 3) h(n + 4) + h(n + 5) + h(n + 6) h(n + 7) is identically 0.
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The sequence of cubes

Next we move the cubic case; let

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f3 (n) = n3 (n + 1)3 (n + 2)3 + (n + 3)3 (n + 4)3 + (n + 5)3 + (n + 6)3 (n + 7)3 . Note that we have used the pattern of signs obtained at the end of the preceding step. As earlier, it is obvious what will be the outcome of this formulation, even without doing any computation: the n3 terms will cancel out; the quadratic terms will yield 0 by virtue of the comment made just above; and so will the linear terms. So f3 (n) will reduce to a constant, whose value will be 13 23 + 33 43 + 53 + 63 73 = 48. Hence we have this identity: f3 (n) = f3 (n + 8),

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and so:
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n3 (n + 1)3 (n + 2)3 + (n + 3)3 (n + 4)3 + (n + 5)3 + (n + 6)3 (n + 7)3 (n + 8)3 + (n + 9)3 + (n + 10)3 (n + 11)3 + (n + 12)3 (n + 13)3 (n + 14)3 + (n + 15)3 = 0. It is obvious from this derivation that the process can be continued indenitely. K

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