Definition:Symmetric Function/Elementary

Definition
Let $a, b \in \Z$ be integers such that $b \ge a$.

Let $U$ be a set of $n = b - a + 1$ numbers $\left\{ {x_a, x_{a + 1}, \ldots, x_b}\right\}$.

Let $m \in \Z_{>0}$ be a (strictly) positive integer.

An elementary symmetric function is a polynomial which can be defined by the formula:


 * $a_m \left({U}\right) = \displaystyle \sum_{a \mathop \le j_1 \mathop < j_2 \mathop < \mathop \cdots \mathop < j_m \mathop \le b} x_{j_1} x_{j_2} \cdots x_{j_m}$

That is, it is the sum of all products of $m$ distinct elements of $\left\{ {x_a, x_{a + 1}, \ldots, x_b}\right\}$.