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,

∑n≥0pdist(n)xn=∑m1,m2,… ; mi∈{0,1}x1m1+2m2+…=∏i=1∞(xi⋅0+xi⋅1)=∏i=1∞(1+xi)

On the other hand,

∑n≥0podd(n)xn=∑(m1,m3,m5,…)x1m1+3m3+…=∏i odd11−xi=∏i≥0(1−x2)(1−x4)…1−xi=(1−x)(1+x)(1−x2)(1+x2)…(1−x)(1−x2)(1−x3)…=∏i≥0(1+xi)

as desired.