# What is the square of summation?

Consider the following, which one of the following is true ??

$$\left( \sum^{n-1}_{j=0}Z_j\right)^2 = \sum^{n-1}_{j=0} Z_j^2 + \sum^{n-1}_{j\neq i} Z_i Z_j$$

OR

$$\left( \sum^{n-1}_{j=0}Z_j\right)^2 = \sum^{n-1}_{j=0} Z_j^2 + \sum^{n-1}_{j< i} Z_i Z_j$$

There is a difference between $j \neq i$ and $j < i$ in the above expressions. But I dont know how to think through this.

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Try with $n = 3$. –  Damien L Mar 13 '13 at 12:18
$n=2$ is enough. –  user1551 Mar 13 '13 at 12:19

The first one is correct. Remember that the summation would be applied on all $(i,j)$ pairs that satisfy the very condition. Actually we have $$\sum\limits_{j\neq i}Z_iZ_j=\sum\limits_{j<i}Z_iZ_j+\sum\limits_{j>i}Z_iZ_j=2\sum\limits_{j<i}Z_iZ_j$$ Thus $$\left(\sum\limits_{j=0}^{n-1}Z_j\right)^2=\sum\limits_{j=0}^{n-1}Z_j^2+\sum\limits_{j\neq i}Z_iZ_j=\sum\limits_{j=0}^{n-1}Z_j^2+2\sum\limits_{j<i}Z_iZ_j$$
A detailed deduction may be $$\begin{array}{ccl} \left(\sum\limits_{j=0}^{n-1}Z_j\right)^2&=&\left(\sum\limits_{i=0}^{n-1}Z_i\right)\left(\sum\limits_{j=0}^{n-1}Z_j\right)\\ &=&\sum\limits_{j=0}^{n-1}Z_j\left(Z_j+\sum\limits_{j\neq i}Z_i\right)\\ &=&\sum\limits_{j=0}^{n-1}Z_j^2+\sum\limits_{j\neq i}Z_iZ_j\\ \end{array}$$ You can also think it in the following way. Let each $Z_j$ equal 1. Then $LHS$ would equal $n^2$, which implies that there would be $n^2$ terms totally. Check $RHS$ and you will find the number of such $(i,j)$ pairs that $i<j$ is $\frac{n^2-n}{2}$ while the number of such $(i,j)$ pairs that $i\neq j$ is $n^2-n$. Thus $i\neq j$ should be the correct answer.
Hint: Start with the case $n=2$.