OFFSET
0,5
COMMENTS
Column sums of an array of the odd numbers repeatedly shifted 4 places to the right:
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17...
1 3 5 7 9...
1...
.........................
-------------------------
1 3 5 7 10 14 18 22 27...
Floor of the area under the polygon connecting the lattice points (n, floor(n/2)) from 0..n. - Wesley Ivan Hurt, Jun 09 2014
Beginning with a(4)=3, the sequence might be called the "off-axis" Ulam-Spiral numbers because they are the numbers in ascending order on the horizontal and vertical spokes (heading outward) starting with the first turning points on the spiral (i.e., 3, 5, 7 and 10). That is, starting with: 3 (upward); 5 (leftward); 7 (downward) and 10 (rightward). These are A033991 (starting at a(1)), A007742 (starting at a(1)), A033954 (starting at a(1)) and A001107 (starting at a(2)), respectively. These quadri-sections are summarized in the formulas of Sep 26 2015. - Bob Selcoe, Oct 05 2015
Conjecture: For n = 2, a(n) is the greatest k such that A123663(k) < A000217(n - 2). - Peter Kagey, Nov 18 2016
a(n) is also the matching number of the n-triangular graph, (n-1)-triangular honeycomb queen graph, (n-1)-triangular honeycomb bishop graphs, and (for n > 7) (n-1)-triangular honeycomb obtuse knight graphs. - Eric W. Weisstein, Jun 02 2017 and Apr 03 2018
After 0, 0, 0, add 1, then add 2 three times, then add 3, then add 4 three times, then add 5, etc.; i.e., first differences are A004524 = (0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, ...). - M. F. Hasler, May 09 2018
Let s(0) = s(1) = 1, s(-1) = s(2) = x, and s(n+2)*s(n-2) = s(n+1)*s(n-1) + s(n)^2 for all n in Z. Then s(n) = p(n) / x^e(n) is a Laurent polynomial in x with p(n) a polynomial with nonnegative integer coefficients of degree a(n) for all n in Z. If x = 1, then s(n) = p(n) = A006720(n+1). - Michael Somos, Mar 22 2023
LINKS
Vincenzo Librandi, Table of n, a(n) for n = 0..1000
Kyu-Hwan Lee and Se-jin Oh, Catalan triangle numbers and binomial coefficients, arXiv:1601.06685 [math.CO], 2016.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Matching Number.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Triangular Graph.
Index entries for linear recurrences with constant coefficients, signature (3,-4,4,-3,1).
FORMULA
G.f.: x^3*(1-x^2)/((1-x)^3*(1-x^4)).
G.f.: x^3/((1+x^2)*(1-x)^3). - Jon Perry, Mar 31 2004
a(n) = +3*a(n-1) -4*a(n-2) +4*a(n-3) -3*a(n-4) +a(n-5). - R. J. Mathar, Apr 15 2010
a(n) = floor((n/(1+e^(1/n)))^2). - Richard R. Forberg, Jun 19 2013
a(n) = floor(n*(n-1)/4). - T. D. Noe, Jun 20 2013
a(n) = (1/4) * ( n^2 - n - 1 + (-1)^floor(n/2) ). - Ralf Stephan, Aug 11 2013
a(4*n) = A033991(n). a(4*n+1) = A007742(n). a(4*n+2) = A033954(n). a(4*n+3) = A001107(n+1). - Bob Selcoe, Sep 26 2015
E.g.f.: (sin(x) + cos(x) + (x^2 - 1)*exp(x))/4. - Ilya Gutkovskiy, Nov 18 2016
A156859(n) = a(2*n+2). - Michael Somos, Nov 18 2016
Euler transform of length 4 sequence [ 3, -1, 0, 1]. - Michael Somos, Nov 18 2016
From Amiram Eldar, Mar 18 2022: (Start)
Sum_{n>=3} 1/a(n) = 40/9 - 2*Pi/3.
Sum_{n>=3} (-1)^(n+1)/a(n) = 32/9 - 4*log(2). (End)
0 = a(n+2)*(a(n)*(a(n) -6*a(n+1) +4*a(n+2)) +a(n+1)*(8*a(n+1) -10*a(n+2)) + 3*a(n+2)^2) +a(n+3)*(a(n)*(+a(n) -2*a(n+1)) +a(n+2)*(2*a(n+1) -a(n+2))) for all n in Z. - Michael Somos, Mar 22 2023
2*a(n) + 2*a(n-2) = (n-1)*(n-2). - R. J. Mathar, Feb 12 2024
EXAMPLE
G.f. = x^3 + 3*x^4 + 5*x^5 + 7*x^6 + 10*x^7 + 14*x^8 + 18*x^9 + 22*x^10 + ...
p(0) = p(1) = 1, p(2) = 1 + x, p(3) = 1 + x + x^3, p(4) = 1 + 2*x + 2*x^2 + x^3 + x^5. - Michael Somos, Mar 22 2023
MAPLE
seq(floor(binomial(n, 2)/2), n=0..57); # Zerinvary Lajos, Jan 12 2009
MATHEMATICA
Table[Floor[n (n - 1)/4], {n, 0, 100}] (* Vladimir Joseph Stephan Orlovsky, Jun 28 2011 *)
CoefficientList[Series[x^3/((1 + x^2) (1 - x)^3), {x, 0, 70}], x] (* Vincenzo Librandi, Jun 21 2013 *)
LinearRecurrence[{3, -4, 4, -4, 1}, {0, 0, 1, 3, 5}, {0, 20}] (* Eric W. Weisstein, Jun 02 2017 *)
Table[Floor[Binomial[n, 2]/2], {n, 0, 20}] (* Eric W. Weisstein, Jun 02 2017 *)
Table[1/4 (-1 + (-1 + n) n + Cos[n Pi/2] + Sin[n Pi/2]), {n, 0, 20}] (* Eric W. Weisstein, Jun 02 2017 *)
Floor[Binomial[Range[0, 20], 2]/2] (* Eric W. Weisstein, Apr 03 2018 *)
PROG
(PARI) a(n) = binomial(n, 2)\2;
(PARI) vector(100, n, n--; floor(n*(n-1)/4)) \\ Altug Alkan, Sep 30 2015
(Sage) [floor(binomial(n, 2)/2) for n in range(0, 58)] # Zerinvary Lajos, Dec 01 2009
(Magma) [ Floor(n*(n-1)/4) : n in [0..50] ]; // Wesley Ivan Hurt, Jun 09 2014
(Haskell)
a011848 n = if n < 2 then 0 else flip div 2 $ a007318 n 2
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Mar 04 2015
(GAP) List([0..60], n->Int(Binomial(n, 2)/2)); # Muniru A Asiru, Apr 05 2018
(Python)
def a(n): return n*(n-1)//4 # Christoph B. Kassir, Oct 07 2022
KEYWORD
nonn,easy
AUTHOR
N. J. A. Sloane, Dec 11 1996
STATUS
approved