partitions with odd parts is equal to partitions with distinct parts

Tags: #theorem

Statement

The number of partitions of n with distinct parts is equal to the number of partitions with odd parts.

n pdist(n)=podd(n)
0 1
1 1
2 1
3 2
4 2
5 3

Proof

We look at the generating functions. For distinct parts, well if λi are distinct, then the multiplicity has to be either 0 or 1 for each number. Thus,

n0pdist(n)xn=m1,m2, ; mi{0,1}x1m1+2m2+=i=1(xi0+xi1)=i=1(1+xi)

On the other hand,

n0podd(n)xn=(m1,m3,m5,)x1m1+3m3+=i odd11xi=i0(1x2)(1x4)1xi=(1x)(1+x)(1x2)(1+x2)(1x)(1x2)(1x3)=i0(1+xi)

as desired.