MathDB
Staircase problem

Source: India TST III-Problem 3

May 23, 2011
rectangleinductionLaTeXcombinatorics unsolvedcombinatorics

Problem Statement

Consider a n×n n\times n square grid which is divided into n2 n^2 unit squares(think of a chess-board). The set of all unit squares intersecting the main diagonal of the square or lying under it is called an nn-staircase. Find the number of ways in which an nn-stair case can be partitioned into several rectangles, with sides along the grid lines, having mutually distinct areas.