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Exercise 1529Combinatorics › Binomial coefficientsOlympiadAdded 3 Nov 2026

Central binomial coefficients

#central binomial#asymptotics#Wallis

Statement

Show that (2nn)∼4nπn\binom{2n}{n}\sim\frac{4^n}{\sqrt{\pi n}}.

Hint

Use Stirling's formula n!∼2πn(n/e)nn!\sim\sqrt{2\pi n}(n/e)^n.

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Solution

Stirling. (2n)!∼4πn(2n/e)2n(2n)!\sim\sqrt{4\pi n}(2n/e)^{2n} and (n!)2∼2πn(n/e)2n(n!)^2\sim2\pi n(n/e)^{2n}.

Ratio. (2nn)=(2n)!(n!)2∼4πn⋅4nn2n/e2n2πn⋅n2n/e2n=2πn2πn⋅4n=4nπn\binom{2n}{n}=\frac{(2n)!}{(n!)^2}\sim\frac{\sqrt{4\pi n}\cdot 4^n n^{2n}/e^{2n}}{2\pi n\cdot n^{2n}/e^{2n}}=\frac{2\sqrt{\pi n}}{2\pi n}\cdot 4^n=\frac{4^n}{\sqrt{\pi n}}.

Conclusion. Central binomials grow like 4n/πn4^n/\sqrt{\pi n}.

Remark. This is used to prove ∑1n(2nn)\sum\frac{1}{n\binom{2n}{n}} converges.