The Method(!) of "Guess and Check"

Shalosh B. Ekhad, Doron Zeilberger

Published 2015-02-15Version 1

The problems of enumerating lattice walks, with an arbitrary finite set of allowed steps, both in one and two dimensions, where one must always stay in the non-negative half-line and quarter-plane respectively, are used, as case studies, to illustrate the `naive' methodology of guess-and-check, where rigorous proofs are possible, but not worth the trouble. We argue that this is a metaphor for future math.