cp's OEIS Frontend

The first triangular array is A099627 which provides index numbers in A060351 for Pascal's Triangle (A007318). This second array provides the index numbers in A060351 for array A059797.

Note that this table and A099627 are sub-arrays of table A161924 which has A000041 entries per row. - Alford Arnold, Oct 19 2009

The symmetric group distribution of permutation descents is summarized in Table A008292; for example 1 57 302 302 57 1 sums the following A060351 values:

1.......5.......10.......10.......5.......1

.......14.......35.......35.......14.......

.......19.......26.......40.......19.......

.......14.......40.......19.......14.......

........5.......61.......26.......5.......

................26.......61..............

................19.......40..............

................40.......26..............

................35.......35..............

................10.......10..............

A060351 relates permutations to numeric partitions. Diagonal 1 2 4 8 16 32 ... A000079 sums triangle A007318 and is related to hook partitions. Diagonal 2 13 58 221 ... sums 2 10 34 98 ... related to partition 2+2 3 20 85 ... related to 3+3 4 33 ... related to 4+4 5 ... related to 5+5 etc.

Also referred to as T(n) or C(n+1, 2) or binomial(n+1, 2) (preferred).

Also generalized hexagonal numbers: n*(2*n-1), n=0, +-1, +-2, +-3, ... Generalized k-gonal numbers are second k-gonal numbers and positive terms of k-gonal numbers interleaved, k >= 5. In this case k = 6. - Omar E. Pol, Sep 13 2011 and Aug 04 2012

Number of edges in complete graph of order n+1, K_{n+1}.

Number of legal ways to insert a pair of parentheses in a string of n letters. E.g., there are 6 ways for three letters: (a)bc, (ab)c, (abc), a(b)c, a(bc), ab(c). Proof: there are C(n+2,2) ways to choose where the parentheses might go, but n + 1 of them are illegal because the parentheses are adjacent. Cf. A002415.

For n >= 1, a(n) is also the genus of a nonsingular curve of degree n+2, such as the Fermat curve x^(n+2) + y^(n+2) = 1. - Ahmed Fares (ahmedfares(AT)my_deja.com), Feb 21 2001

From Harnack's theorem (1876), the number of branches of a nonsingular curve of order n is bounded by a(n-1)+1, and the bound can be achieved. See also A152947. - Benoit Cloitre, Aug 29 2002. Corrected by Robert McLachlan, Aug 19 2024

Number of tiles in the set of double-n dominoes. - Scott A. Brown, Sep 24 2002

Number of ways a chain of n non-identical links can be broken up. This is based on a similar problem in the field of proteomics: the number of ways a peptide of n amino acid residues can be broken up in a mass spectrometer. In general, each amino acid has a different mass, so AB and BC would have different masses. - James A. Raymond, Apr 08 2003

Triangular numbers - odd numbers = shifted triangular numbers; 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, ... - 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, ... = 0, 0, 1, 3, 6, 10, ... - Xavier Acloque, Oct 31 2003 [Corrected by Derek Orr, May 05 2015]

Centered polygonal numbers are the result of [number of sides * A000217 + 1]. E.g., centered pentagonal numbers (1,6,16,31,...) = 5 * (0,1,3,6,...) + 1. Centered heptagonal numbers (1,8,22,43,...) = 7 * (0,1,3,6,...) + 1. - Xavier Acloque, Oct 31 2003

Maximum number of lines formed by the intersection of n+1 planes. - Ron R. King, Mar 29 2004

Number of permutations of [n] which avoid the pattern 132 and have exactly 1 descent. - Mike Zabrocki, Aug 26 2004

Number of ternary words of length n-1 with subwords (0,1), (0,2) and (1,2) not allowed. - Olivier Gérard, Aug 28 2012

Number of ways two different numbers can be selected from the set {0,1,2,...,n} without repetition, or, number of ways two different numbers can be selected from the set {1,2,...,n} with repetition.

Conjecturally, 1, 6, 120 are the only numbers that are both triangular and factorial. - Christopher M. Tomaszewski (cmt1288(AT)comcast.net), Mar 30 2005

Binomial transform is {0, 1, 5, 18, 56, 160, 432, ...}, A001793 with one leading zero. - Philippe Deléham, Aug 02 2005

Each pair of neighboring terms adds to a perfect square. - Zak Seidov, Mar 21 2006

Number of transpositions in the symmetric group of n+1 letters, i.e., the number of permutations that leave all but two elements fixed. - Geoffrey Critzer, Jun 23 2006

With rho(n):=exp(i*2*Pi/n) (an n-th root of 1) one has, for n >= 1, rho(n)^a(n) = (-1)^(n+1). Just use the triviality a(2*k+1) == 0 (mod (2*k+1)) and a(2*k) == k (mod (2*k)).

a(n) is the number of terms in the expansion of (a_1 + a_2 + a_3)^(n-1). - Sergio Falcon, Feb 12 2007

a(n+1) is the number of terms in the complete homogeneous symmetric polynomial of degree n in 2 variables. - Richard Barnes, Sep 06 2017

The number of distinct handshakes in a room with n+1 people. - Mohammad K. Azarian, Apr 12 2007 [corrected, Joerg Arndt, Jan 18 2016]

Equal to the rank (minimal cardinality of a generating set) of the semigroup PT_n\S_n, where PT_n and S_n denote the partial transformation semigroup and symmetric group on [n]. - James East, May 03 2007

a(n) gives the total number of triangles found when cevians are drawn from a single vertex on a triangle to the side opposite that vertex, where n = the number of cevians drawn+1. For instance, with 1 cevian drawn, n = 1+1 = 2 and a(n)= 2*(2+1)/2 = 3 so there is a total of 3 triangles in the figure. If 2 cevians are drawn from one point to the opposite side, then n = 1+2 = 3 and a(n) = 3*(3+1)/2 = 6 so there is a total of 6 triangles in the figure. - Noah Priluck (npriluck(AT)gmail.com), Apr 30 2007

For n >= 1, a(n) is the number of ways in which n-1 can be written as a sum of three nonnegative integers if representations differing in the order of the terms are considered to be different. In other words, for n >= 1, a(n) is the number of nonnegative integral solutions of the equation x + y + z = n-1. - Amarnath Murthy, Apr 22 2001 (edited by Robert A. Beeler)

a(n) is the number of levels with energy n + 3/2 (in units of h*f0, with Planck's constant h and the oscillator frequency f0) of the three-dimensional isotropic harmonic quantum oscillator. See the comment by A. Murthy above: n = n1 + n2 + n3 with positive integers and ordered. Proof from the o.g.f. See the A. Messiah reference. - Wolfdieter Lang, Jun 29 2007

From Hieronymus Fischer, Aug 06 2007: (Start)

Numbers m >= 0 such that round(sqrt(2m+1)) - round(sqrt(2m)) = 1.

Numbers m >= 0 such that ceiling(2*sqrt(2m+1)) - 1 = 1 + floor(2*sqrt(2m)).

Numbers m >= 0 such that fract(sqrt(2m+1)) > 1/2 and fract(sqrt(2m)) < 1/2, where fract(x) is the fractional part of x (i.e., x - floor(x), x >= 0). (End)

If Y and Z are 3-blocks of an n-set X, then, for n >= 6, a(n-1) is the number of (n-2)-subsets of X intersecting both Y and Z. - Milan Janjic, Nov 09 2007

Equals row sums of triangle A143320, n > 0. - Gary W. Adamson, Aug 07 2008

a(n) is also an even perfect number in A000396 iff n is a Mersenne prime A000668. - Omar E. Pol, Sep 05 2008. Unnecessary assumption removed and clarified by Rick L. Shepherd, Apr 14 2025

Equals row sums of triangle A152204. - Gary W. Adamson, Nov 29 2008

The number of matches played in a round robin tournament: n*(n-1)/2 gives the number of matches needed for n players. Everyone plays against everyone else exactly once. - Georg Wrede (georg(AT)iki.fi), Dec 18 2008

-a(n+1) = E(2)*binomial(n+2,2) (n >= 0) where E(n) are the Euler numbers in the enumeration A122045. Viewed this way, a(n) is the special case k=2 in the sequence of diagonals in the triangle A153641. - Peter Luschny, Jan 06 2009

Equivalent to the first differences of successive tetrahedral numbers. See A000292. - Jeremy Cahill (jcahill(AT)inbox.com), Apr 15 2009

The general formula for alternating sums of powers is in terms of the Swiss-Knife polynomials P(n,x) A153641 2^(-n-1)(P(n,1)-(-1)^k P(n,2k+1)). Thus a(k) = |2^(-3)(P(2,1)-(-1)^k P(2,2k+1))|. - Peter Luschny, Jul 12 2009

a(n) is the smallest number > a(n-1) such that gcd(n,a(n)) = gcd(n,a(n-1)). If n is odd this gcd is n; if n is even it is n/2. - Franklin T. Adams-Watters, Aug 06 2009

Partial sums of A001477. - Juri-Stepan Gerasimov, Jan 25 2010. [A-number corrected by Omar E. Pol, Jun 05 2012]

The numbers along the right edge of Floyd's triangle are 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, .... - Paul Muljadi, Jan 25 2010

From Charlie Marion, Dec 03 2010: (Start)

More generally, a(2k+1) == j*(2j-1) (mod 2k+2j+1) and

a(2k) == [-k + 2j*(j-1)] (mod 2k+2j).

Column sums of:

1 3 5 7 9 ...

1 3 5 ...

1 ...

...............

---------------

1 3 6 10 15 ...

Sum_{n>=1} 1/a(n)^2 = 4*Pi^2/3-12 = 12 less than the volume of a sphere with radius Pi^(1/3).

(End)

A004201(a(n)) = A000290(n); A004202(a(n)) = A002378(n). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Feb 12 2011

1/a(n+1), n >= 0, has e.g.f. -2*(1+x-exp(x))/x^2, and o.g.f. 2*(x+(1-x)*log(1-x))/x^2 (see the Stephen Crowley formula line). -1/(2*a(n+1)) is the z-sequence for the Sheffer triangle of the coefficients of the Bernoulli polynomials A196838/A196839. - Wolfdieter Lang, Oct 26 2011

From Charlie Marion, Feb 23 2012: (Start)

a(n) + a(A002315(k)*n + A001108(k+1)) = (A001653(k+1)*n + A001109(k+1))^2. For k=0 we obtain a(n) + a(n+1) = (n+1)^2 (identity added by N. J. A. Sloane on Feb 19 2004).

a(n) + a(A002315(k)*n - A055997(k+1)) = (A001653(k+1)*n - A001109(k))^2.

(End)

Plot the three points (0,0), (a(n), a(n+1)), (a(n+1), a(n+2)) to form a triangle. The area will be a(n+1)/2. - J. M. Bergot, May 04 2012

The sum of four consecutive triangular numbers, beginning with a(n)=n*(n+1)/2, minus 2 is 2*(n+2)^2. a(n)*a(n+2)/2 = a(a(n+1)-1). - J. M. Bergot, May 17 2012

(a(n)*a(n+3) - a(n+1)*a(n+2))*(a(n+1)*a(n+4) - a(n+2)*a(n+3))/8 = a((n^2+5*n+4)/2). - J. M. Bergot, May 18 2012

a(n)*a(n+1) + a(n+2)*a(n+3) + 3 = a(n^2 + 4*n + 6). - J. M. Bergot, May 22 2012

In general, a(n)*a(n+1) + a(n+k)*a(n+k+1) + a(k-1)*a(k) = a(n^2 + (k+2)*n + k*(k+1)). - Charlie Marion, Sep 11 2012

a(n)*a(n+3) + a(n+1)*a(n+2) = a(n^2 + 4*n + 2). - J. M. Bergot, May 22 2012

In general, a(n)*a(n+k) + a(n+1)*a(n+k-1) = a(n^2 + (k+1)*n + k-1). - Charlie Marion, Sep 11 2012

a(n)*a(n+2) + a(n+1)*a(n+3) = a(n^2 + 4*n + 3). - J. M. Bergot, May 22 2012

Three points (a(n),a(n+1)), (a(n+1),a(n)) and (a(n+2),a(n+3)) form a triangle with area 4*a(n+1). - J. M. Bergot, May 23 2012

a(n) + a(n+k) = (n+k)^2 - (k^2 + (2n-1)*k -2n)/2. For k=1 we obtain a(n) + a(n+1) = (n+1)^2 (see below). - Charlie Marion, Oct 02 2012

In n-space we can define a(n-1) nontrivial orthogonal projections. For example, in 3-space there are a(2)=3 (namely point onto line, point onto plane, line onto plane). - Douglas Latimer, Dec 17 2012

From James East, Jan 08 2013: (Start)

For n >= 1, a(n) is equal to the rank (minimal cardinality of a generating set) and idempotent rank (minimal cardinality of an idempotent generating set) of the semigroup P_n\S_n, where P_n and S_n denote the partition monoid and symmetric group on [n].

For n >= 3, a(n-1) is equal to the rank and idempotent rank of the semigroup T_n\S_n, where T_n and S_n denote the full transformation semigroup and symmetric group on [n].

(End)

For n >= 3, a(n) is equal to the rank and idempotent rank of the semigroup PT_n\S_n, where PT_n and S_n denote the partial transformation semigroup and symmetric group on [n]. - James East, Jan 15 2013

Conjecture: For n > 0, there is always a prime between A000217(n) and A000217(n+1). Sequence A065383 has the first 1000 of these primes. - Ivan N. Ianakiev, Mar 11 2013

The formula, a(n)*a(n+4k+2)/2 + a(k) = a(a(n+2k+1) - (k^2+(k+1)^2)), is a generalization of the formula a(n)*a(n+2)/2 = a(a(n+1)-1) in Bergot's comment dated May 17 2012. - Charlie Marion, Mar 28 2013

The series Sum_{k>=1} 1/a(k) = 2, given in a formula below by Jon Perry, Jul 13 2003, has partial sums 2*n/(n+1) (telescopic sum) = A022998(n)/A026741(n+1). - Wolfdieter Lang, Apr 09 2013

For odd m = 2k+1, we have the recurrence a(m*n + k) = m^2*a(n) + a(k). Corollary: If number T is in the sequence then so is 9*T+1. - Lekraj Beedassy, May 29 2013

Euler, in Section 87 of the Opera Postuma, shows that whenever T is a triangular number then 9*T + 1, 25*T + 3, 49*T + 6 and 81*T + 10 are also triangular numbers. In general, if T is a triangular number then (2*k + 1)^2*T + k*(k + 1)/2 is also a triangular number. - Peter Bala, Jan 05 2015

Using 1/b and 1/(b+2) will give a Pythagorean triangle with sides 2*b + 2, b^2 + 2*b, and b^2 + 2*b + 2. Set b=n-1 to give a triangle with sides of lengths 2*n,n^2-1, and n^2 + 1. One-fourth the perimeter = a(n) for n > 1. - J. M. Bergot, Jul 24 2013

a(n) = A028896(n)/6, where A028896(n) = s(n) - s(n-1) are the first differences of s(n) = n^3 + 3*n^2 + 2*n - 8. s(n) can be interpreted as the sum of the 12 edge lengths plus the sum of the 6 face areas plus the volume of an n X (n-1) X (n-2) rectangular prism. - J. M. Bergot, Aug 13 2013

Dimension of orthogonal group O(n+1). - Eric M. Schmidt, Sep 08 2013

Number of positive roots in the root system of type A_n (for n > 0). - Tom Edgar, Nov 05 2013

A formula for the r-th successive summation of k, for k = 1 to n, is binomial(n+r,r+1) [H. W. Gould]. - Gary Detlefs, Jan 02 2014

Also the alternating row sums of A095831. Also the alternating row sums of A055461, for n >= 1. - Omar E. Pol, Jan 26 2014

For n >= 3, a(n-2) is the number of permutations of 1,2,...,n with the distribution of up (1) - down (0) elements 0...011 (n-3 zeros), or, the same, a(n-2) is up-down coefficient {n,3} (see comment in A060351). - Vladimir Shevelev, Feb 14 2014

a(n) is the dimension of the vector space of symmetric n X n matrices. - Derek Orr, Mar 29 2014

Non-vanishing subdiagonal of A132440^2/2, aside from the initial zero. First subdiagonal of unsigned A238363. Cf. A130534 for relations to colored forests, disposition of flags on flagpoles, and colorings of the vertices of complete graphs. - Tom Copeland, Apr 05 2014

The number of Sidon subsets of {1,...,n+1} of size 2. - Carl Najafi, Apr 27 2014

Number of factors in the definition of the Vandermonde determinant V(x_1,x_2,...,x_n) = Product_{1 <= i < k <= n} x_i - x_k. - Tom Copeland, Apr 27 2014

Number of weak compositions of n into three parts. - Robert A. Beeler, May 20 2014

Suppose a bag contains a(n) red marbles and a(n+1) blue marbles, where a(n), a(n+1) are consecutive triangular numbers. Then, for n > 0, the probability of choosing two marbles at random and getting two red or two blue is 1/2. In general, for k > 2, let b(0) = 0, b(1) = 1 and, for n > 1, b(n) = (k-1)*b(n-1) - b(n-2) + 1. Suppose, for n > 0, a bag contains b(n) red marbles and b(n+1) blue marbles. Then the probability of choosing two marbles at random and getting two red or two blue is (k-1)/(k+1). See also A027941, A061278, A089817, A053142, A092521. - Charlie Marion, Nov 03 2014

Let O(n) be the oblong number n(n+1) = A002378 and S(n) the square number n^2 = A000290(n). Then a(4n) = O(3n) - O(n), a(4n+1) = S(3n+1) - S(n), a(4n+2) = S(3n+2) - S(n+1) and a(4n+3) = O(3n+2) - O(n). - Charlie Marion, Feb 21 2015

Consider the partition of the natural numbers into parts from the set S=(1,2,3,...,n). The length (order) of the signature of the resulting sequence is given by the triangular numbers. E.g., for n=10, the signature length is 55. - David Neil McGrath, May 05 2015

a(n) counts the partitions of (n-1) unlabeled objects into three (3) parts (labeled a,b,c), e.g., a(5)=15 for (n-1)=4. These are (aaaa),(bbbb),(cccc),(aaab),(aaac),(aabb),(aacc),(aabc),(abbc),(abcc),(abbb),(accc),(bbcc),(bccc),(bbbc). - David Neil McGrath, May 21 2015

Conjecture: the sequence is the genus/deficiency of the sinusoidal spirals of index n which are algebraic curves. The value 0 corresponds to the case of the Bernoulli Lemniscate n=2. So the formula conjectured is (n-1)(n-2)/2. - Wolfgang Tintemann, Aug 02 2015

Conjecture: Let m be any positive integer. Then, for each n = 1,2,3,... the set {Sum_{k=s..t} 1/k^m: 1 <= s <= t <= n} has cardinality a(n) = n*(n+1)/2; in other words, all the sums Sum_{k=s..t} 1/k^m with 1 <= s <= t are pairwise distinct. (I have checked this conjecture via a computer and found no counterexample.) - Zhi-Wei Sun, Sep 09 2015

The Pisano period lengths of reading the sequence modulo m seem to be A022998(m). - R. J. Mathar, Nov 29 2015

For n >= 1, a(n) is the number of compositions of n+4 into n parts avoiding the part 2. - Milan Janjic, Jan 07 2016

In this sequence only 3 is prime. - Fabian Kopp, Jan 09 2016

Suppose you are playing Bulgarian Solitaire (see A242424 and Chamberland's and Gardner's books) and, for n > 0, you are starting with a single pile of a(n) cards. Then the number of operations needed to reach the fixed state {n, n-1,...,1} is a(n-1). For example, {6}->{5,1}->{4,2}->{3,2,1}. - Charlie Marion, Jan 14 2016

Numbers k such that 8k + 1 is a square. - Juri-Stepan Gerasimov, Apr 09 2016

Every perfect cube is the difference of the squares of two consecutive triangular numbers. 1^2-0^2 = 1^3, 3^2-1^2 = 2^3, 6^2-3^2 = 3^3. - Miquel Cerda, Jun 26 2016

For n > 1, a(n) = tau_n(k*) where tau_n(k) is the number of ordered n-factorizations of k and k* is the square of a prime. For example, tau_3(4) = tau_3(9) = tau_3(25) = tau_3(49) = 6 (see A007425) since the number of divisors of 4, 9, 25, and 49's divisors is 6, and a(3) = 6. - Melvin Peralta, Aug 29 2016

In an (n+1)-dimensional hypercube, number of two-dimensional faces congruent with a vertex (see also A001788). - Stanislav Sykora, Oct 23 2016

Generalizations of the familiar formulas, a(n) + a(n+1) = (n+1)^2 (Feb 19 2004) and a(n)^2 + a(n+1)^2 = a((n+1)^2) (Nov 22 2006), follow: a(n) + a(n+2k-1) + 4a(k-1) = (n+k)^2 + 6a(k-1) and a(n)^2 + a(n+2k-1)^2 + (4a(k-1))^2 + 3a(k-1) = a((n+k)^2 + 6a(k-1)). - Charlie Marion, Nov 27 2016

a(n) is also the greatest possible number of diagonals in a polyhedron with n+4 vertices. - Vladimir Letsko, Dec 19 2016

For n > 0, 2^5 * (binomial(n+1,2))^2 represents the first integer in a sum of 2*(2*n + 1)^2 consecutive integers that equals (2*n + 1)^6. - Patrick J. McNab, Dec 25 2016

Does not satisfy Benford's law (cf. Ross, 2012). - N. J. A. Sloane, Feb 12 2017

Number of ordered triples (a,b,c) of positive integers not larger than n such that a+b+c = 2n+1. - Aviel Livay, Feb 13 2017

Number of inequivalent tetrahedral face colorings using at most n colors so that no color appears only once. - David Nacin, Feb 22 2017

Also the Wiener index of the complete graph K_{n+1}. - Eric W. Weisstein, Sep 07 2017

Number of intersections between the Bernstein polynomials of degree n. - Eric Desbiaux, Apr 01 2018

a(n) is the area of a triangle with vertices at (1,1), (n+1,n+2), and ((n+1)^2, (n+2)^2). - Art Baker, Dec 06 2018

For n > 0, a(n) is the smallest k > 0 such that n divides numerator of (1/a(1) + 1/a(2) + ... + 1/a(n-1) + 1/k). It should be noted that 1/1 + 1/3 + 1/6 + ... + 2/(n(n+1)) = 2n/(n+1). - Thomas Ordowski, Aug 04 2019

Upper bound of the number of lines in an n-homogeneous supersolvable line arrangement (see Theorem 1.1 in Dimca). - Stefano Spezia, Oct 04 2019

For n > 0, a(n+1) is the number of lattice points on a triangular grid with side length n. - Wesley Ivan Hurt, Aug 12 2020

From Michael Chu, May 04 2022: (Start)

Maximum number of distinct nonempty substrings of a string of length n.

Maximum cardinality of the sumset A+A, where A is a set of n numbers. (End)

a(n) is the number of parking functions of size n avoiding the patterns 123, 132, and 312. - Lara Pudwell, Apr 10 2023

Suppose two rows, each consisting of n evenly spaced dots, are drawn in parallel. Suppose we bijectively draw lines between the dots of the two rows. For n >= 1, a(n - 1) is the maximal possible number of intersections between the lines. Equivalently, the maximal number of inversions in a permutation of [n]. - Sela Fried, Apr 18 2023

The following equation complements the generalization in Bala's Comment (Jan 05 2015). (2k + 1)^2*a(n) + a(k) = a((2k + 1)*n + k). - Charlie Marion, Aug 28 2023

a(n) + a(n+k) + a(k-1) + (k-1)*n = (n+k)^2. For k = 1, we have a(n) + a(n+1) = (n+1)^2. - Charlie Marion, Nov 17 2023

a(n+1)/3 is the expected number of steps to escape from a linear row of n positions starting at a random location and randomly performing steps -1 or +1 with equal probability. - Hugo Pfoertner, Jul 22 2025

a(n+1) is the number of nonnegative integer solutions to p + q + r = n. By Sylvester's law of inertia, it is also the number of congruence classes of real symmetric n-by-n matrices or equivalently, the number of symmetric bilinear forms on a real n-dimensional vector space. - Paawan Jethva, Jul 24 2025

a(n) is the number of balls in a triangular pyramid in which each edge contains n balls.

One of the 5 Platonic polyhedral (tetrahedral, cube, octahedral, dodecahedral and icosahedral) numbers (cf. A053012).

Also (1/6)*(n^3 + 3*n^2 + 2*n) is the number of ways to color the vertices of a triangle using <= n colors, allowing rotations and reflections. Group is the dihedral group D_6 with cycle index (x1^3 + 2*x3 + 3*x1*x2)/6.

Also the convolution of the natural numbers with themselves. - Felix Goldberg (felixg(AT)tx.technion.ac.il), Feb 01 2001

Connected with the Eulerian numbers (1, 4, 1) via 1*a(n-2) + 4*a(n-1) + 1*a(n) = n^3. - Gottfried Helms, Apr 15 2002

a(n) is sum of all the possible products p*q where (p,q) are ordered pairs and p + q = n + 1. E.g., a(5) = 5 + 8 + 9 + 8 + 5 = 35. - Amarnath Murthy, May 29 2003

Number of labeled graphs on n+3 nodes that are triangles. - Jon Perry, Jun 14 2003

Number of permutations of n+3 which have exactly 1 descent and avoid the pattern 1324. - Mike Zabrocki, Nov 05 2004

Schlaefli symbol for this polyhedron: {3,3}.

Transform of n^2 under the Riordan array (1/(1-x^2), x). - Paul Barry, Apr 16 2005

a(n) is a perfect square only for n = {1, 2, 48}. E.g., a(48) = 19600 = 140^2. - Alexander Adamchuk, Nov 24 2006

a(n+1) is the number of terms in the expansion of (a_1 + a_2 + a_3 + a_4)^n. - Sergio Falcon, Feb 12 2007 [Corrected by Graeme McRae, Aug 28 2007]

a(n+1) is the number of terms in the complete homogeneous symmetric polynomial of degree n in 3 variables. - Richard Barnes, Sep 06 2017

This is also the average "permutation entropy", sum((pi(n)-n)^2)/n!, over the set of all possible n! permutations pi. - Jeff Boscole (jazzerciser(AT)hotmail.com), Mar 20 2007

a(n) = (d/dx)(S(n, x), x)|A049310.%20-%20_Wolfdieter%20Lang">{x = 2}. First derivative of Chebyshev S-polynomials evaluated at x = 2. See A049310. - _Wolfdieter Lang, Apr 04 2007

If X is an n-set and Y a fixed (n-1)-subset of X then a(n-2) is equal to the number of 3-subsets of X intersecting Y. - Milan Janjic, Aug 15 2007

Complement of A145397; A023533(a(n))=1; A014306(a(n))=0. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 14 2008

Equals row sums of triangle A152205. - Gary W. Adamson, Nov 29 2008

a(n) is the number of gifts received from the lyricist's true love up to and including day n in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas". a(12) = 364, almost the number of days in the year. - Bernard Hill (bernard(AT)braeburn.co.uk), Dec 05 2008

Sequence of the absolute values of the z^1 coefficients of the polynomials in the GF2 denominators of A156925. See A157703 for background information. - Johannes W. Meijer, Mar 07 2009

Starting with 1 = row sums of triangle A158823. - Gary W. Adamson, Mar 28 2009

Wiener index of the path with n edges. - Eric W. Weisstein, Apr 30 2009

This is a 'Matryoshka doll' sequence with alpha=0, the multiplicative counterpart is A000178: seq(add(add(i,i=alpha..k),k=alpha..n),n=alpha..50). - Peter Luschny, Jul 14 2009

a(n) is the number of nondecreasing triples of numbers from a set of size n, and it is the number of strictly increasing triples of numbers from a set of size n+2. - Samuel Savitz, Sep 12 2009 [Corrected and enhanced by Markus Sigg, Sep 24 2023]

a(n) is the number of ordered sequences of 4 nonnegative integers that sum to n. E.g., a(2) = 10 because 2 = 2 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 1 + 1 + 0 + 0 = 0 + 2 + 0 + 0 = 1 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 0 + 1 + 1 + 0 = 0 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 1 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 0 + 1 + 0 + 1 = 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 0 + 0 + 0 + 2. - Artur Jasinski, Nov 30 2009

a(n) corresponds to the total number of steps to memorize n verses by the technique described in A173964. - Ibrahima Faye (ifaye2001(AT)yahoo.fr), Feb 22 2010

The number of (n+2)-bit numbers which contain two runs of 1's in their binary expansion. - Vladimir Shevelev, Jul 30 2010

a(n) is also, starting at the second term, the number of triangles formed in n-gons by intersecting diagonals with three diagonal endpoints (see the first column of the table in Sommars link). - Alexandre Wajnberg, Aug 21 2010

Column sums of:

1 4 9 16 25...

1 4 9...

1...

..............

--------------

1 4 10 20 35...

From Johannes W. Meijer, May 20 2011: (Start)

The Ca3, Ca4, Gi3 and Gi4 triangle sums (see A180662 for their definitions) of the Connell-Pol triangle A159797 are linear sums of shifted versions of the duplicated tetrahedral numbers, e.g., Gi3(n) = 17*a(n) + 19*a(n-1) and Gi4(n) = 5*a(n) + a(n-1).

Furthermore the Kn3, Kn4, Ca3, Ca4, Gi3 and Gi4 triangle sums of the Connell sequence A001614 as a triangle are also linear sums of shifted versions of the sequence given above. (End)

a(n-2)=N_0(n), n >= 1, with a(-1):=0, is the number of vertices of n planes in generic position in three-dimensional space. See a comment under A000125 for general arrangement. Comment to Arnold's problem 1990-11, see the Arnold reference, p. 506. - Wolfdieter Lang, May 27 2011

We consider optimal proper vertex colorings of a graph G. Assume that the labeling, i.e., coloring starts with 1. By optimality we mean that the maximum label used is the minimum of the maximum integer label used across all possible labelings of G. Let S=Sum of the differences |l(v) - l(u)|, the sum being over all edges uv of G and l(w) is the label associated with a vertex w of G. We say G admits unique labeling if all possible labelings of G is S-invariant and yields the same integer partition of S. With an offset this sequence gives the S-values for the complete graph on n vertices, n = 2, 3, ... . - K.V.Iyer, Jul 08 2011

Central term of commutator of transverse Virasoro operators in 4-D case for relativistic quantum open strings (ref. Zwiebach). - Tom Copeland, Sep 13 2011

Appears as a coefficient of a Sturm-Liouville operator in the Ovsienko reference on page 43. - Tom Copeland, Sep 13 2011

For n > 0: a(n) is the number of triples (u,v,w) with 1 <= u <= v <= w <= n, cf. A200737. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Nov 21 2011

Regarding the second comment above by Amarnath Murthy (May 29 2003), see A181118 which gives the sequence of ordered pairs. - L. Edson Jeffery, Dec 17 2011

The dimension of the space spanned by the 3-form v[ijk] that couples to M2-brane worldsheets wrapping 3-cycles inside tori (ref. Green, Miller, Vanhove eq. 3.9). - Stephen Crowley, Jan 05 2012

a(n+1) is the number of 2 X 2 matrices with all terms in {0, 1, ..., n} and (sum of terms) = n. Also, a(n+1) is the number of 2 X 2 matrices with all terms in {0, 1, ..., n} and (sum of terms) = 3*n. - Clark Kimberling, Mar 19 2012

Using n + 4 consecutive triangular numbers t(1), t(2), ..., t(n+4), where n is the n-th term of this sequence, create a polygon by connecting points (t(1), t(2)) to (t(2), t(3)), (t(2), t(3)) to (t(3), t(4)), ..., (t(1), t(2)) to (t(n+3), t(n+4)). The area of this polygon will be one-half of each term in this sequence. - J. M. Bergot, May 05 2012

Pisano period lengths: 1, 4, 9, 8, 5, 36, 7, 16, 27, 20, 11, 72, 13, 28, 45, 32, 17,108, 19, 40, ... . (The Pisano sequence modulo m is the auxiliary sequence p(n) = a(n) mod m, n >= 1, for some m. p(n) is periodic for all sequences with rational g.f., like this one, and others. The lengths of the period of p(n) are quoted here for m>=1.) - R. J. Mathar, Aug 10 2012

a(n) is the maximum possible number of rooted triples consistent with any phylogenetic tree (level-0 phylogenetic network) containing exactly n+2 leaves. - Jesper Jansson, Sep 10 2012

For n > 0, the digital roots of this sequence A010888(a(n)) form the purely periodic 27-cycle {1, 4, 1, 2, 8, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 7, 4, 5, 2, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 1, 7, 8, 5, 8, 9, 9, 9}, which just rephrases the Pisano period length above. - Ant King, Oct 18 2012

a(n) is the number of functions f from {1, 2, 3} to {1, 2, ..., n + 4} such that f(1) + 1 < f(2) and f(2) + 1 < f(3). - Dennis P. Walsh, Nov 27 2012

a(n) is the Szeged index of the path graph with n+1 vertices; see the Diudea et al. reference, p. 155, Eq. (5.8). - Emeric Deutsch, Aug 01 2013

Also the number of permutations of length n that can be sorted by a single block transposition. - Vincent Vatter, Aug 21 2013

From J. M. Bergot, Sep 10 2013: (Start)

a(n) is the 3 X 3 matrix determinant

| C(n,1) C(n,2) C(n,3) |

| C(n+1,1) C(n+1,2) C(n+1,3) |

| C(n+2,1) C(n+2,2) C(n+2,3) |

(End)

In physics, a(n)/2 is the trace of the spin operator S_z^2 for a particle with spin S=n/2. For example, when S=3/2, the S_z eigenvalues are -3/2, -1/2, +1/2, +3/2 and the sum of their squares is 10/2 = a(3)/2. - Stanislav Sykora, Nov 06 2013

a(n+1) = (n+1)*(n+2)*(n+3)/6 is also the dimension of the Hilbert space of homogeneous polynomials of degree n. - L. Edson Jeffery, Dec 12 2013

For n >= 4, a(n-3) is the number of permutations of 1,2...,n with the distribution of up (1) - down (0) elements 0...0111 (n-4 zeros), or, equivalently, a(n-3) is up-down coefficient {n,7} (see comment in A060351). - Vladimir Shevelev, Feb 15 2014

a(n) is one-half the area of the region created by plotting the points (n^2,(n+1)^2). A line connects points (n^2,(n+1)^2) and ((n+1)^2, (n+2)^2) and a line is drawn from (0,1) to each increasing point. From (0,1) to (4,9) the area is 2; from (0,1) to (9,16) the area is 8; further areas are 20,40,70,...,2*a(n). - J. M. Bergot, May 29 2014

Beukers and Top prove that no tetrahedral number > 1 equals a square pyramidal number A000330. - Jonathan Sondow, Jun 21 2014

a(n+1) is for n >= 1 the number of nondecreasing n-letter words over the alphabet [4] = {1, 2, 3, 4} (or any other four distinct numbers). a(2+1) = 10 from the words 11, 22, 33, 44, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34; which is also the maximal number of distinct elements in a symmetric 4 X 4 matrix. Inspired by the Jul 20 2014 comment by R. J. Cano on A000582. - Wolfdieter Lang, Jul 29 2014

Degree of the q-polynomial counting the orbits of plane partitions under the action of the symmetric group S3. Orbit-counting generating function is Product_{i <= j <= k <= n} ( (1 - q^(i + j + k - 1))/(1 - q^(i + j + k - 2)) ). See q-TSPP reference. - Olivier Gérard, Feb 25 2015

Row lengths of tables A248141 and A248147. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 02 2014

If n is even then a(n) = Sum_{k=1..n/2} (2k)^2. If n is odd then a(n) = Sum_{k=0..(n-1)/2} (1+2k)^2. This can be illustrated as stacking boxes inside a square pyramid on plateaus of edge lengths 2k or 2k+1, respectively. The largest k are the 2k X 2k or (2k+1) X (2k+1) base. - R. K. Guy, Feb 26 2015

Draw n lines in general position in the plane. Any three define a triangle, so in all we see C(n,3) = a(n-2) triangles (6 lines produce 4 triangles, and so on). - Terry Stickels, Jul 21 2015

a(n-2) = fallfac(n,3)/3!, n >= 3, is also the number of independent components of an antisymmetric tensor of rank 3 and dimension n. Here fallfac is the falling factorial. - Wolfdieter Lang, Dec 10 2015

Number of compositions (ordered partitions) of n+3 into exactly 4 parts. - Juergen Will, Jan 02 2016

Number of weak compositions (ordered weak partitions) of n-1 into exactly 4 parts. - Juergen Will, Jan 02 2016

For n >= 2 gives the number of multiplications of two nonzero matrix elements in calculating the product of two upper n X n triangular matrices. - John M. Coffey, Jun 23 2016

Terms a(4n+1), n >= 0, are odd, all others are even. The 2-adic valuation of the subsequence of every other term, a(2n+1), n >= 0, yields the ruler sequence A007814. Sequence A275019 gives the 2-adic valuation of a(n). - M. F. Hasler, Dec 05 2016

Does not satisfy Benford's law [Ross, 2012]. - N. J. A. Sloane, Feb 12 2017

C(n+2,3) is the number of ways to select 1 triple among n+2 objects, thus a(n) is the coefficient of x1^(n-1)*x3 in exponential Bell polynomial B_{n+2}(x1,x2,...), hence its link with A050534 and A001296 (see formula). - Cyril Damamme, Feb 26 2018

a(n) is also the number of 3-cycles in the (n+4)-path complement graph. - Eric W. Weisstein, Apr 11 2018

a(n) is the general number of all geodetic graphs of diameter n homeomorphic to a complete graph K4. - Carlos Enrique Frasser, May 24 2018

a(n) + 4*a(n-1) + a(n-2) = n^3 = A000578(n), for n >= 0 (extending the a(n) formula given in the name). This is the Worpitzky identity for cubes. (Number of components of the decomposition of a rank 3 tensor in dimension n >= 1 into symmetric, mixed and antisymmetric parts). For a(n-2) see my Dec 10 2015 comment. - Wolfdieter Lang, Jul 16 2019

a(n) also gives the total number of regular triangles of length k (in some length unit), with k from {1, 2, ..., n}, in the matchstick arrangement with enclosing triangle of length n, but only triangles with the orientation of the enclosing triangle are counted. Row sums of unsigned A122432(n-1, k-1), for n >= 1. See the Andrew Howroyd comment in A085691. - Wolfdieter Lang, Apr 06 2020

a(n) is the number of bigrassmannian permutations on n+1 elements, i.e., permutations which have a unique left descent, and a unique right descent. - Rafael Mrden, Aug 21 2020

a(n-2) is the number of chiral pairs of colorings of the edges or vertices of a triangle using n or fewer colors. - Robert A. Russell, Oct 20 2020

a(n-2) is the number of subsets of {1,2,...,n} whose diameters are their size. For example, for n=4, a(2)=4 and the sets are {1,3}, {2,4}, {1,2,4}, {1,3,4}. - Enrique Navarrete, Dec 26 2020

For n>1, a(n-2) is the number of subsets of {1,2,...,n} in which the second largest element is the size of the subset. For example, for n=4, a(2)=4 and the sets are {2,3}, {2,4}, {1,3,4}, {2,3,4}. - Enrique Navarrete, Jan 02 2021

a(n) is the number of binary strings of length n+2 with exactly three 0's. - Enrique Navarrete, Jan 15 2021

From Tom Copeland, Jun 07 2021: (Start)

Aside from the zero, this sequence is the fourth diagonal of the Pascal matrix A007318 and the only nonvanishing diagonal (fourth) of the matrix representation IM = (A132440)^3/3! of the differential operator D^3/3!, when acting on the row vector of coefficients of an o.g.f., or power series.

M = e^{IM} is the lower triangular matrix of coefficients of the Appell polynomial sequence p_n(x) = e^{D^3/3!} x^n = e^{b. D} x^n = (b. + x)^n = Sum_{k=0..n} binomial(n,k) b_n x^{n-k}, where the (b.)^n = b_n have the e.g.f. e^{b.t} = e^{t^3/3!}, which is that for A025035 aerated with double zeros, the first column of M.

See A099174 and A000332 for analogous relationships for the third and fifth diagonals of the Pascal matrix. (End)

a(n) is the number of circles with a radius of integer length >= 1 and center at a grid point in an n X n grid. - Albert Swafford, Jun 11 2021

Maximum Wiener index over all connected graphs with n+1 vertices. - Allan Bickle, Jul 09 2022

The third Euler row (1,4,1) has an additional connection with the tetrahedral numbers besides the n^3 identity stated above: a^2(n) + 4*a^2(n+1) + a^2(n+2) = a(n^2+4n+4), which can be shown with algebra. E.g., a^2(2) + 4*a^2(3) + a^2(4) = 16 + 400 + 400 = a(16). Although an analogous thing happens with the (1,1) row of Euler's triangle and triangular numbers C(n+1,2) = A000217(n) = T(n), namely both T(n-1) + T(n) = n^2 and T^2(n-1) + T^2(n) = T(n^2) are true, only one (the usual identity) still holds for the Euler row (1,11,11,1) and the C(n,4) numbers in A000332. That is, the dot product of (1,11,11,1) with the squares of 4 consecutive terms of A000332 is not generally a term of A000332. - Richard Peterson, Aug 21 2022

For n > 1, a(n-2) is the number of solutions of the Diophantine equation x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 = n, subject to the constraints 0 <= x1, 1 <= x2, 2 <= x3, 0 <= x4 <= 1, 0 <= x5 and x5 is even. - Daniel Checa, Nov 03 2022

a(n+1) is also the number of vertices of the generalized Pitman-Stanley polytope with parameters 2, n, and vector (1,1, ... ,1), which is integrally equivalent to a flow polytope over the grid graph having 2 rows and n columns. - William T. Dugan, Sep 18 2023

a(n) is the number of binary words of length (n+1) containing exactly one substring 01. a(2) = 4: 001, 010, 011, 101. - Nordine Fahssi, Dec 09 2024

a(n) is the number of directed bishop moves on an n X n chessboard, identified under rotations (0, 90, 180 and 270 degree) and all reflections. - Hilko Koning, Aug 27 2025

Related to variance of number of inversions of a random permutation of n letters.

Zero followed by partial sums of A005563. - Klaus Brockhaus, Oct 17 2008

a(n)/12 is the variance of the number of inversions of a random permutation of n letters. See evidence in Mathematica code below. - Geoffrey Critzer, May 15 2010

The sequence is related to A033487 by A033487(n-1) = n*a(n) - Sum_{i=0..n-1} a(i) = n*(n+1)*(n+2)*(n+3)/4. - Bruno Berselli, Apr 04 2012

Deleting the two 0's leaves row 2 of the convolution array A213750. - Clark Kimberling, Jun 20 2012

For n>=4, a(n-2) is the number of permutations of 1,2...,n with the distribution of up (1) - down (0) elements 0...0110 (the first n-4 zeros), or, the same, a(n-2) is up-down coefficient {n,6} (see comment in A060351). - Vladimir Shevelev, Feb 15 2014

Minimum sum of the bottom row of a triangular array A filled with the integers [0..binomial(n, 2) - 1] that obeys the rule A[i, j] + 1 <= A[i+1, j] and A[i, j] + 1 <= A[i, j-1]. - C.S. Elder, Oct 13 2023

The preceding statement can be extended: a(n) is the minimum sum of the main antidiagonal of a n X n square array A filled eith the integers [0..n^2-1] that is increasing on each row from left to right, and on each column from top to bottom. - Yifan Xie, Dec 19 2024

a(n) is the number of independent components of a 3-tensor t(a,b,c) which satisfies t(a,b,c)=t(b,a,c) and sum(t(a,a,c),a=1..n)=0 for all c and t(a,b,c)+t(b,c,a)+t(c,a,b)=0, with a,b,c range 1..n. (3-tensor in n-dimensional space which is symmetric and traceless in one pair of its indices and satisfies the cyclic identity.)

Number of standard tableaux of shape (n-1,2,1) (n>=3). - Emeric Deutsch, May 13 2004

Zero followed by partial sums of A028387, starting at n=1. - Klaus Brockhaus, Oct 21 2008

For n>=4, a(n-1) is the number of permutations of 1,2...,n with the distribution of up (1) - down (0) elements 0...0101 (the first n-4 zeros), or, the same, a(n-1) is up-down coefficient {n,5} (see comment in A060351). - Vladimir Shevelev, Feb 14 2014

For n>=3, a(n) equals the second immanant of the (n-1) X (n-1) tridiagonal matrix with 2's along the main diagonal, and 1's along the superdiagonal and the subdiagonal. - John M. Campbell, Jan 08 2016

a(n) = number of ordered pairs of permutations of [n] such that the first has an ascent wherever the second has a descent and vice versa. For example, the pair of permutations (1243, 4123) does not qualify because they have a common ascent starting at location 2, and a(2) = 2 counts (12, 21), (21, 12). - David Callan, Sep 15 2013

In the Frey-Sellers reference this sequence is called {(n+2) over 3}_{2}, n >= 0.

If X is an n-set and Y a fixed (n-3)-subset of X then a(n-3) is equal to the number of 3-subsets of X intersecting Y. - Milan Janjic, Aug 15 2007

Let A be the Hessenberg matrix of order n, defined by: A[1,j]=1, A[i,i]:=-1, A[i,i-1]=-1, and A[i,j]=0 otherwise. Then, for n>=6, a(n-6) = coeff(charpoly(A,x), x^(n-2)). - Milan Janjic, Jan 26 2010

For n>=4, a(n-4) is the number of permutations of 1,2,...,n, such that n-3 is the only up-point, or, the same, a(n-4) is up-down coefficient {n,4} (see comment in A060351). - Vladimir Shevelev, Feb 14 2014

In the Frey-Sellers reference this sequence is called {(n+2) over 4}_{3}, n >= 0.

If X is an n-set and Y a fixed (n-4)-subset of X then a(n-5) is equal to the number of 4-subsets of X intersecting Y. - Milan Janjic, Aug 15 2007

For n>=5, a(n-5) is the number of permutations of 1,2...,n with the distribution of up (1) - down (0) elements 0...01000 (the first n-5 zeros), or, the same, a(n-5) is up-down coefficient {n,8} (see comment in A060351). - Vladimir Shevelev, Feb 18 2014