Unimodality and the Reflection Principle

Bruce E.Sagan1
1 Department of Mathematics Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1027

Abstract

We show how lattice paths and the reflection principle can be used to give easy proofs of unimodality results. In particular, we give a “one-line” combinatorial proof of the unimodality of the binomial coefficients. Other examples include products of binomial coefficients, polynomials related to the Legendre polynomials, and a result connected to a conjecture of Simion.