How do you type the following general term of a series in Maxima ?
Well, first the binomial can be taken outside the sum and the sum can be performed in closed form:
Anyway, the entire expression you gave is entered into maxima as
u(a, m, n) := (-h)^(n-a) * sum((-1)^j * binomial(a-n,n) * (1+h)^j, j, 0, m-n);