Scribd
Upload
23 views2 pages

Heckman

The document summarizes the proof that the infinite sum of terms involving Fibonacci numbers equals i + √1−5/2. It uses identities about Fibonacci numbers, like Catalan's identity and d'Ocagne's identity, to prove key steps in an induction argument. The proof technique can also be applied to Lucas numbers, yielding a related infinite sum. The document discusses related work that provided alternative approaches to proving the identity.

Uploaded by

PerepePere
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
23 views2 pages

Heckman

The document summarizes the proof that the infinite sum of terms involving Fibonacci numbers equals i + √1−5/2. It uses identities about Fibonacci numbers, like Catalan's identity and d'Ocagne's identity, to prove key steps in an induction argument. The proof technique can also be applied to Lucas numbers, yielding a related infinite sum. The document discusses related work that provided alternative approaches to proving the identity.

Uploaded by

PerepePere
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

11258.

Proposed by Manuel Kauers, Research Institute for Symbolic√ Computation, Johannes Kepler Uni-
versity. Let Fn denote the nth Fibonacci number, and let i denote −1. Prove that
∞
X F3k − 2F1+3k 1 √ 
=i+ 1− 5 .
F3k + iF2·3k 2
k=0

Solution by Christopher Carl Heckman, Arizona State Univeristy, Tempe, AZ: The notation F (x) will denote
Fx , especially when x not a simple expression. Let
   
F (3k ) − 2F (1 + 3k ) F (3k ) F (3k ) − 2F (3k + 1) F (2 · 3k ) F (3k ) − 2F (3k + 1)
ak = = − i. (1)
F (3k ) + iF (2 · 3k ) F (3k )2 + F (2 · 3k )2 F (3k )2 + F (2 · 3k )2

The result is a consequence of the claim that

k
X −F (3k+1 − 1) F (3k+1 ) − 1
ai = + i, (2)
i=0
F (3k+1 ) F (3k+1 )
√
−F (3k+1 − 1) 1− 5 F (3k+1 ) − 1
for all k ≥ 0, since lim = and lim = 1.
k→+∞ F (3k+1 ) 2 k→+∞ F (3k+1 )
The proof of (2) will be by induction. Clearly, (2) is true when k = 0, and will follow from the claims
that
 
F (3k ) F (3k ) − 2F (3k + 1) −F (3k+1 − 1) F (3k − 1)
= Re a k = + and (3a)
F (3k )2 + F (2 · 3k )2 F (3k+1 ) F (3k )
 
−F (2 · 3k ) F (3k ) − 2F (3k + 1) F (3k+1 ) − 1 F (3k ) − 1
k 2 k 2
= Im ak = − , (3b)
F (3 ) + F (2 · 3 ) F (3k+1 ) F (3k )

for all k ≥ 1.
Fortunately (3a) and (3b) are true in a more general sense; if n is a positive odd integer, then

Fn (Fn − 2Fn+1 ) −F3n−1 Fn−1


2 2 = + and (4a)
Fn + F2n F3n Fn
−F2n (Fn − 2Fn+1 ) F3n − 1 Fn − 1
2 2 = − . (4b)
Fn + F2n F3n Fn

Now, (4a) and (4b) can be proved using Binet’s Formula and a CAS like Maple, but they can also be
proven by using the following identities*:
Theorem. The following hold for all integers:
(i) “The Negative Identity”: F−n = (−1)n+1 Fn ;
(ii) “Double Identity”: F2n = Fn (2Fn+1 − Fn ) [1];
(iii) Catalan’s Identity: Fn2 − Fn+r Fn−r = (−1)n−r Fr2 ;
(iv) d’Ocagne’s Identity: Fm Fn+1 − Fn Fm+1 = (−1)F m−n ;
(v) “Johnson’s Identity”: Fa Fb − Fc Fd = (−1)r (Fa−r Fb−r − Fc−r Fd−r ), if a, b, c, d, and r are integers such
that a + b = c + d. [2]
To prove (4a), note that, using Catalan’s Identity (with n ← 2n, r ← n), and the fact that n is odd,
2
Fn F3n = F2n − (−1)n Fn2 = F2n
2
+ Fn2 .

* Taken from http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FibonacciNumber.html

1
Then, using the Double Identity,
2
−F2n · (F2n + Fn2 ) = Fn (Fn − 2Fn+1 ) · (Fn F3n );
also, using d’Ocagne’s Identity (with m ← n − 1, n ← 3n − 1), the Negative Identity, and the fact that n is
odd,
Fn−1 F3n − F3n−1 Fn = (−1)3n−1 F−2n = (−1)3n−1 (−1)2n+1 F2n = −F2n .
The two equalities above show that
2
Fn (Fn − 2Fn+1 ) · (Fn F3n ) = −F2n · (F2n + Fn2 ) = (−F3n−1 Fn + Fn−1 F3n ) · (F2n
2
+ Fn2 ),
2
and dividing both sides by Fn F3n (F2n + Fn2 ) yields (4a).
To prove (4b), note that (using the defintion of Fn )
Fn − 2Fn+1 = −Fn+1 + (Fn − Fn+1 ) = −Fn+1 − Fn−1 ;
This implies that
−F2n (Fn − 2Fn+1 ) = F2n Fn+1 + F2n Fn−1 = −Fn + [F2n Fn+1 − F2n (−1)n Fn−1 + Fn ]
= −Fn + [F2n Fn+1 + (−1)n (F2n F1−n − Fn F1 )],
by the Negative Identity, n being odd, and the fact that F1 = 1,
= −Fn + F3n · F1 ,
by Johnson’s Identity, where a = 3n, b = 1, c = 2n, d = n + 1, and r = n,
= Fn (F3n − 1) − F3n (Fn − 1).
Then
2
−F2n (Fn − 2Fn+1 ) · F3n Fn = [Fn (F3n − 1) − F3n (Fn − 1)] · (F2n + Fn2 ),
2
and dividing this equation by F3n Fn (F2n + Fn2 ) produces (4b).
What happens if the Lucas numbers* are used instead of the Fibonacci numbers?
It appears that
∞
X L3k − 2L1+3k 1 √ 
= 1 − 5 + Si,
L3k + iL2·3k 2
k=0
∞
X 1
where S = 1+2 . [I approximated S and then started a thread in sci.math asking people to “identify
Fk
k=1 3
the number.” Posters whose responses eventually led to this formula are Raymond Manzoni, Clive Tooth
(“The Last Danish Pastry”), and Robert Israel.]
Note: While trying to establish a value for S, I came upon Manuel Kauers’s paper on the SumCracker
package [3], which he used to discover the identity
n
X F3k − 2F1+3k (2 + i)F3n − (1 + i)F3n +1 − iF2·3n − F2·3n +1
= ,
F3k + iF2·3k F3n − F3n +1 + iF2·3n +1
k=0
which provides a quicker proof.

References

[1] A. Brousseau, “Fibonacci Numbers and Geometry.” Fib. Quart. 10, 303–318, 1972.
[2] B. Johnson, “Fibonacci Identities by Matrix Methods and Generalisation to Related Sequences.” March
25, 2003.)
[3] Manuel Kauers, “SumCracker: A Package for Manipulating Symbolic Sums and Related Objects”,
submitted to Elsevier Science.
* The Lucas numbers satisfy the Fibonacci relation Ln = Ln−1 + Ln−2 , but start off differently: L1 = 1
and L2 = 3.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy