MathDB

Consider an

m

-by-

n

grid of unit squares, indexed by

(i, j)

with

1 \leq i \leq m

and

1 \leq j \leq n

. There are

(m-1)(n-1)

coins, which are initially placed in the squares

(i, j)

with

1 \leq i \leq m-1

and

1 \leq j \leq n-1

. If a coin occupies the square

(i, j)

with

i \leq m-1

and

j \leq n-1

and the squares

(i+1, j),(i, j+1)

, and

(i+1, j+1)

are unoccupied, then a legal move is to slide the coin from

(i, j)

(i+1, j+1)

. How many distinct configurations of coins can be reached starting from the initial configuration by a (possibly empty) sequence of legal moves?

B1