%I #26 Mar 16 2020 15:39:35
%S 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,3,5,7,9,9,13,11,17,19,33
%N Number of ways to factor (1 + x + x^2+ ... + x^(n - 1))^2 as the product of two monic polynomials of degree n - 1 with positive coefficients (counting order).
%C a(n) is the number of ways one can divide the unit square in n possibly irregular lines * n possibly irregular columns (parallel to the sides) so that each of the diagonals of the n X n irregular checkerboard thus constructed has the same area as it would in a regular checkerboard. Alternatively, this is the number of ways to construct a pair of n-sided dice (probability distribution on the n sides, labeled 0 through n-1), no face having probability 0, so that the sum of the two dice follows the expected probability distribution for the sum of two fair n-sided dice. Note that a(n) is always odd because there is always the obvious factorization of (1+x+...+x^(n-1))^2 as 1+x+...+x^(n-1) times itself, and each other factorization counts twice.
%e For n=12 we have a(n)=3 because apart from the obvious factorization of (1+x+...+x^11)^2 as (1+x+...+x^11) times itself, there exist the factorizations p*q and q*p where p = (1-sqrt(3)*x+x^2) * (1-x+x^2) * (1+x^2) * (1+x+x^2)^2 * (1+x) and q = (1-sqrt(3)*x+x^2) * (1-x+x^2) * (1+x^2) * (1+sqrt(3)*x+x^2)^2 * (1+x), both of which have positive coefficients, and those are the only two possible.
%o (Sage)
%o R.<x> = AA['x']
%o def has_positive_coefficients(pol):
%o return not any(c <= 0 for c in pol.coeffs())
%o def trydie(m):
%o results = []
%o tmp = list(factor(sum([x^i for i in range(m)])))
%o facs = [f for (f,_) in tmp]
%o n = len(facs)
%o for i in range((3^n+1)//2):
%o exps = [(i//(3^k))%3 for k in range(n)]
%o coexps = [2-v for v in exps]
%o pol = R(prod([facs[k]^exps[k] for k in range(n)]))
%o copol = R(prod([facs[k]^coexps[k] for k in range(n)]))
%o if pol.degree()<m and copol.degree()<m and has_positive_coefficients(pol) and has_positive_coefficients(copol):
%o pol /= pol.subs({x:1})
%o copol /= copol.subs({x:1})
%o results += [(pol.coeffs(),copol.coeffs())]
%o return 2*len(results)-1
%K nonn
%O 1,12
%A _David A. Madore_, Oct 28 2012
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