Counting domino coverings of a two-row strip
Question
In how many ways can a board with rows and columns be covered exactly by dominoes?
Short answer
, the -th Fibonacci number ( for ). Look at the left end: either one vertical domino fills column , leaving ways, or two stacked horizontal dominoes fill columns -, leaving . So with , .
Adapted from Joshi, Denson & Downes, Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers, Q8.14, p.277; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
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