Theorem: Let F(m,n,k) be the coefficient of x^m*y^n*z^k in the Maclaurin ser\ ies of 1 ------------- 1 - x - y - z F(m,n,k) satisfies the following pure recurrences (1 + n + k + m) F(m, n, k) - -------------------------- + F(1 + m, n, k) = 0 1 + m (1 + n + k + m) F(m, n, k) - -------------------------- + F(m, 1 + n, k) = 0 1 + n (1 + n + k + m) F(m, n, k) - -------------------------- + F(m, n, 1 + k) = 0 1 + k Proof: We will only do the first recurrence Let M and N be the shift operators in the m and n directions, respectively (M f(m,n,k):=f(m+1,n,k), Nf(m,n):=f(m,n+1,k), Kf(m,n,k):=f(m,n,k+1) ) We have to prove that F(m,n,k) is annihilated by the operator, let's call it\ Q:= 1 + n + k + m - ------------- + M 1 + m or equivalenty -1 - n - k - m + M + m M We know, by the obvious algebra, that F(m,n,k) is annihilated by M N K - N K - M K - M N The sequence of successive commutators is [(-2 + M) (M N K - N K - M K - M N)] As you can see, the last entry, (-2 + M) (M N K - N K - M K - M N), is a multiple of , M N K - N K - M K - M N The proof follows by backwards induction, after checking the boundary condit\ ions QED . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------\ ---- The whole thing took , 7.373, seconds of CPU time