I am reading Chapter 2 of Concrete Mathematics, and have some trouble understanding the rationale behind two identities used for simplification.
1) [1<=j<=k<=n]+[1<=k<=j<=n] = [1<=j,k<=n]+[1<=j=k<=n]
2) [1<=j<k<=n]+[1<=k<j<=n] = [1<=j,k<=n]-[1<=j=k<=n]
Does anyone have any insight on how to prove this, intuition for this or way to think about it. I took some examples of 3X3 matrix and laid out the terms, the relation holds but I don't have an intuition of why it does. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Here's how to think about it: it all starts with $[1\le j,k\le n]$. Subtract the other term from both sides to get $$[1\le j,k\le n] = [1\le j\le k\le n]+[1\le k\le j\le n] - [1\le j=k\le n]$$
If $j,k$ are not both int the interval $[1,n]$, then both sides are just zero. If instead they are, then the LHS is $1$. Now, there are three possibilities: $j<k$, $j>k$, $j=k$. If $j<k$, then the first term on the right is $1$, while the others are zero. If $j>k$, then the second term on the right is $1$, while the others are $0$. Lastly, if $j=k$, then the first two terms on the right are both $1$. However, we then add $-1$ from the last term, to get $1$ again, via $1+1-1$.
The other one is similar.