Does there exist a nice closed form formula for the sum $\sum_{k=0}^m P(m,k)x^k$ where $P(m,k)=C(m,k)*k!$, $C(m,k)$ being the "m choose k" number. Formula given by Maple 11 is complicated. I thought there may be an easier one. Of course $\sum_{k=0}^m C(m,k)x^k=(1+x)^m.$
A sum involving permutation
3
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combinatorics
binomial-coefficients
power-series
1 Answers
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We can write \begin{align} \sum_{k=0}^m\binom mkk!x^k&=\sum_{k=0}^m\frac{m!}{(m-k)!}x^k\\ &=m!\sum_{j=0}^m\frac{x^{m-j}}{j!}\\ &=m!x^mS_m\left(\frac 1x\right), \end{align} where $S_n(t):=\sum_{j=0}^n\frac{t^j}{j!}$. But the $S_n$ are hard to simplify.
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1We could use the integral representation $ S_m(t) = \frac{e^t}{m!} \int_t^\infty u^m e^{-u}\,du = \frac{e^t}{m!}\Gamma(m+1,t) $ to get $ \sum_{k=0}^m\binom mkk!x^k = e^{1/x} x^m \Gamma(m+1,1/x), $ where $\Gamma(s,t)$ is the [incomplete gamma function](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incomplete_gamma_function). – 2012-05-19