Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4650965 Discrete Mathematics 2009 5 Pages PDF
Abstract
Recently, Sloane suggested the following problem: We are given n boxes, labeled 1,2,…,n. For i=1,…,n, box i weighs (m-1)i grams (where m⩾2 is a fixed integer) and box i can support a total weight of i grams. What is the number of different ways to build a single stack of boxes in which no box will be squashed by the weight of the boxes above it? Prior to this generalized problem, Sloane and Sellers solved the case m=2. More recently, Andrews and Sellers solved the case m⩾3. In this note we give new and simple proofs of the results of Sloane and Sellers and of Andrews and Sellers, using a known connection with m-ary partitions.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Mathematics Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics
Authors
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