Date of Award
5-2011
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Department
Mathematics
First Thesis Advisor
Arthur T. Benjamin
Second Thesis Advisor
Kimberly Kindred
Rights Information
© 2011 Elizabeth (Lizard) Reiland
Terms of Use & License Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Abstract
The Fibonomial numbers are defined by \[ \begin{bmatrix}n \\ k \end{bmatrix} = \frac{\prod_{i=n-k+1} ^{n} F_i}{\prod_{j=1}^{k} F_j} \] where $F_i$ is the $i$th Fibonacci number, defined by the recurrence $F_n=F_{n-1}+F_{n-2}$ with initial conditions $F_0=0,F_1=1$. In the past year, Sagan and Savage have derived a combinatorial interpretation for these Fibonomial numbers, an interpretation that relies upon tilings of a partition and its complement in a given grid.In this thesis, I investigate previously proven theorems for the Fibonomial numbers and attempt to reinterpret and reprove them in light of this new combinatorial description. I also present combinatorial proofs for some identities I did not find elsewhere in my research and begin the process of creating a general mapping between the two different Fibonomial interpretations. Finally, I provide a discussion of potential directions for future work in this area.
Recommended Citation
Reiland, Elizabeth, "Combinatorial Interpretations of Fibonomial Identities" (2011). HMC Senior Theses. Paper 10.
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/hmc_theses/10