TITLE: An identity involving the Pochhammer symbol
QUESTION [4 upvotes]: I need help proving the following identity:
$$\frac{(6n)!}{(3n)!} = 1728^n \left(\frac{1}{6}\right)_n \left(\frac{1}{2}\right)_n \left(\frac{5}{6}\right)_n.$$
Here,
$$(a)_n = a(a + 1)(a + 2) \cdots (a + n - 1), \quad n > 1, \quad (a)_0 = 1,$$
is the Pochhammer symbol. I do not really know how one converts expressions involving factorials to products of the Pochhammer symbols. Is there a general procedure? Any help would be appreciated.

REPLY [4 votes]: By using the formula 
\begin{align}
(a)_{kn} = k^{kn} \prod_{r=0}^{n-1} \left( \frac{a+r}{k} \right)_{n}
\end{align}
it is evident that the desired quantity,
\begin{align}
(1728)^{n} \left( \frac{1}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{3}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{5}{6} \right)_{n},
\end{align}
can be seen as
\begin{align}
2^{6n} 3^{3n} \left( \frac{1}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{3}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{5}{6} \right)_{n} = \frac{ 6^{6n} \left( \frac{1}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{2}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{3}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{4}{6} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{5}{6} \right)_{n} }{ 3^{3n} \left( \frac{1}{3} \right)_{n} \left( \frac{2}{3} \right)_{n} } = \frac{(1)_{6n}}{(1)_{3n}} = \frac{(6n)!}{(3n)!}.
\end{align}
{"set_name": "stack_exchange", "score": 4, "question_id": 656505}