Exercise · ZW-PENTAGONAL-NUMBER-THEOREM-002 · ★☆☆ Basic

What generalized pentagonal exponent is obtained with \(k=2\)?

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  • A. 5

Explanation

Compute \(2(3\cdot2-1)/2=5\), so the exponent is 5. The value 2 corresponds to \(k=-1\), not \(k=2\).

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Review the concept: Pentagonal number theorem

Euler's pentagonal number theorem states that the product \(\prod_{n\ge1}(1-x^n)\) equals an alternating sum of powers of \(x\) indexed by generalized pentagonal numbers.

\[\prod_{n\ge1}(1-x^n)=\sum_{k=-\infty}^{\infty}(-1)^k x^{k(3k-1)/2}\]

More practice problems: pentagonal number theorem

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