Fibonacci limit

Calculus Level 1

The Fibonacci sequence can be defined with induction as F n = F n 1 + F n 2 F_n=F_{n-1}+F_{n-2} , where F 1 = 0 F_1=0 and F 2 = 1 F_2=1 . It is also well-known that the limit of the ratio between two consecutive terms lim F n + 1 F n \lim \frac{F_{n+1}}{F_n} is the golden ratio ϕ \phi .

In the generalized Fibonacci sequence below, the original Fibonacci sequence is F n 2 . F_n^2. F n m = i = 1 m F n i m with F n m = 0 if n < m and F m m = 1. F_n^m=\sum_{i=1}^{m}{F_{n-i}^m}\ \text{ with }\ F_n^m=0\ \text{ if } \ n<m\ \text{ and }\ F_m^m=1. Every sequence will also have a generalized golden ratio ϕ m = lim n F n + 1 m F n m . \phi_m=\displaystyle \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty}{ \frac{F_{n+1}^m}{F_{n}^m}}.

What is the limit of the generalized golden ratio below? lim m ϕ m = lim m lim n F n + 1 m F n m \lim_{m \rightarrow \infty}{\phi_m} = \lim_{m \rightarrow \infty}{\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty}{\frac{F_{n+1}^m}{F_{n}^m}}}


The answer is 2.

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12 solutions

David Vreken
Sep 8, 2018

As lim m \lim_{m \to \infty} , the next number in the sequence would be the sum of all the numbers before it, so the first non-zero numbers of F F are 1 1 , then 0 + 1 = 1 0 + 1 = 1 , then 0 + 1 + 1 = 2 0 + 1 + 1 = 2 , then 0 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 4 0 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 4 , then 0 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 8 0 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 8 , and so on, for the sequence 1 , 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 , 1, 1, 2, 4, 8, \dots

After the first 1 1 , we observe that the numbers after it are successive powers of 2 2 . In other words, if G p G_p is the sequence of F n F_n starting at the second 1 1 so that G 0 = 1 G_0 = 1 , G 1 = 2 G_1 = 2 , G 2 = 4 G_2 = 4 , and so on, then G p = 2 p G_p = 2^p . This observation can be proved inductively: G 0 = 2 0 = 1 G_0 = 2^0 = 1 , and assuming G p = 2 p G_p = 2^p , G p + 1 = 1 + k = 0 p 2 k = 1 + 1 2 p + 1 1 2 = 2 p + 1 G_{p + 1} = 1 + {\displaystyle \sum_{k = 0}^{p}2^k} = 1 + \frac{1- 2^{p + 1}}{1 - 2} = 2^{p + 1} . Therefore,

lim m ϕ m = lim m lim n F n + 1 m F n m = lim p G p + 1 G p = lim p 2 p + 1 2 p = 2 \lim_{m \to \infty}{\phi_m} = \lim_{m \to \infty}{\lim_{n \to \infty}{\frac{F_{n+1}^m}{F_{n}^m}}} = \lim_{p \to \infty}{\frac{G_{p+1}}{G_p}} = \lim_{p \to \infty}{\frac{2^{p+1}}{2^p}} = \boxed{2}

Probably the simplest solution. Start with m being the infinite sum and you've proved it's 2.

If there's one weakness it's finding 2 by observation but that's just the purist in me speaking. The empiricist says it's fine.

Malcolm Rich - 2 years, 9 months ago

how to see the second equality in the last line?

D E - 2 years, 9 months ago

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lim m ϕ m = lim m lim n F n + 1 m F n m \lim_{m \to \infty}{\phi_m} = \lim_{m \to \infty}{\lim_{n \to \infty}{\frac{F_{n+1}^m}{F_{n}^m}}} is given in the problem

David Vreken - 2 years, 9 months ago
John Ross
Sep 9, 2018

By the definition of the sequence, we have F n m + F n + 1 m + F n + 2 m + F n + m 1 m = F n + m m F_{n}^m+F_{n+1}^m+F_{n+2}^m+\cdots F_{n+m-1}^m=F_{n+m}^m For large enough n n , this becomes 1 + ϕ m + ϕ m 2 + ϕ m m 1 = ϕ m m ϕ m m 1 ϕ m 1 = ϕ m m ϕ m m ( ϕ m 2 ) = 1 1+\phi_m+\phi_m^2+\cdots \phi_m^{m-1}=\phi_m^m \implies \frac{\phi_m^m-1}{\phi_m-1}=\phi_m^m \implies \phi_m^m(\phi_m-2)=-1 As m m goes to infinity, ϕ m m \phi_m^m goes to infinity, so in order for the product to converge, ϕ m 2 \phi_m-2 must tend to 0, therefore the answer is 2.

Brian Moehring
Aug 28, 2018

Assuming ϕ m \phi_m exists for every m m ...

We can divide both sides of F n m = i = 1 m F n i m F_n^m = \sum_{i=1}^mF_{n-i}^m by F n m m F_{n-m}^m and take the limit as n n\to\infty to find ϕ m m = i = 1 m ϕ m m i = ϕ m m 1 ϕ m 1 ϕ m m ( ϕ m 2 ) + 1 = 0 \phi_m^m = \sum_{i=1}^{m} \phi_m^{m-i} = \frac{\phi_m^m - 1}{\phi_m-1} \quad \implies \quad \phi_m^m(\phi_m - 2) + 1 = 0 so ϕ m \phi_m is a root of x m ( x 2 ) + 1 = 0. x^m(x-2)+1 = 0.

Since for each m m , the sequence n F n m n \mapsto F_n^m is increasing, we must have ϕ m 1. \phi_m \geq 1. Further, if we look at the first equation I gave for ϕ m , \phi_m, we can see that ϕ m = 1 1 = ϕ m m = i = 1 m ϕ m m i = m \phi_m=1 \implies 1 = \phi_m^m = \sum_{i=1}^m \phi_m^{m-i} = m so, since we're only interested in lim m ϕ m \lim_{m\to\infty} \phi_m , we may assume ϕ m > 1 \phi_m > 1 . Further, since for x 2 , x\geq 2, we have x m ( x 2 ) + 1 1 > 0 , x^m(x-2)+1 \geq 1 > 0, we also have ϕ m < 2 \phi_m < 2 for all m . m.

So far, we have shown that if m > 1 m>1 , then ϕ m ( 1 , 2 ) \phi_m \in (1,2) is a root of f m ( x ) = x m ( x 2 ) + 1. f_m(x) = x^m(x-2)+1. To strengthen this, note that x = 1 x=1 is a root of f m f_m and f m ( x ) = ( m + 1 ) x m 2 m x m 1 = x m 1 ( ( m + 1 ) x 2 m ) f_m'(x) = (m+1)x^m - 2mx^{m-1} = x^{m-1}\Big((m+1)x - 2m\Big) has only one root x = 2 m m + 1 ( 1 , 2 ) , x = \frac{2m}{m+1} \in (1,2), so by Rolle's theorem (or more generally the Mean Value Theorem) we can conclude that ϕ m \phi_m is the unique root ( 1 , 2 ) \in (1,2) of f m . f_m.

To finish the proof, we note that for any 0 < ε < 1 , 0 < \varepsilon < 1, m > log 2 ε ( ε ) f m ( 2 ε ) = ( 2 ε ) m ( ε ) + 1 < 0 f m has a root ( 2 ε , 2 ) ( 1 , 2 ) (Intermediate Value theorem) 2 ε < ϕ m < 2 (Since ϕ m is the unique root ( 1 , 2 ) ) \begin{aligned} m > -\log_{2-\varepsilon}(\varepsilon) &\implies f_m(2-\varepsilon) = (2-\varepsilon)^m(-\varepsilon) + 1 < 0 \\ &\implies f_m \text{ has a root } \in (2-\varepsilon, 2) \subset (1,2) & \text{(Intermediate Value theorem)}\\ &\implies 2-\varepsilon < \phi_m < 2 & \text{(Since } \phi_m \text{ is the unique root } \in (1,2)\text{)} \end{aligned}

Therefore, we have shown by the formal definition of the limit that lim m ϕ m = 2 \lim_{m\to\infty} \phi_m = \boxed{2}

It's perhaps a little confusing when the question uses superscript m is both as an exponent and to denote the m-th series.

Malcolm Rich - 2 years, 9 months ago

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Personally, I would have used a "double subscript" on the sequence if I had designed it, but some people hate multiple subscripts on principle.

For instance, most research mathematicians will have at some point seen someone try to use five or more subscripts on the same term in a presentation, and it just becomes ridiculous after a while.

Brian Moehring - 2 years, 9 months ago
Jeremy Galvagni
Sep 10, 2018

I'm going to play a little fast and loose with limits towards infinity here.

Extend this generalized sequence to a very high value of m m . The first terms are a bunch of zeroes then the one but then comes [ . . . 0 , 0 , 0 , 1 , ] 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 , 16 , 32 , . . . [...0,0,0,1,] 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32,... . This doubling sequence will occur for m m terms. If we make m m \rightarrow \infty then the ratio between successive terms is 2 \boxed{2} .

Archit Wagle
Sep 11, 2018

The generating function for the series is F ( z ) = z + z F ( z ) + z 2 F ( Z ) + . . . + z m F ( z ) F(z) = z + zF(z)+z^2F(Z)+...+z^mF(z) rearranging the terms F ( z ) = z 1 i = 1 m z i \displaystyle\therefore F(z) = \frac{z}{1-\displaystyle\sum_{i=1}^{m}z^i}

as m \;\;\;m\rightarrow\infty , lim m i = 0 m z i = 1 1 z \;\;\;\;\displaystyle\lim_{m \to \infty}\sum_{i=0}^{m}z^i =\frac{1}{1-z} F ( z ) = z 2 z 2 z 1 \therefore F(z)= \frac{z^2-z}{2z-1} F ( z ) = z 2 1 4 + 1 4 1 1 2 z \therefore F(z) = \frac{z}{2}-\frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{4}\cdot\frac{1}{1-2z} F ( z ) = z 2 1 4 + 1 4 i = 0 ( 2 z ) i \therefore F(z) = \frac{z}{2}-\frac{1}{4} +\frac{1}{4}\cdot \displaystyle\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}(2z)^i lim n ϕ m = 2 \therefore \lim_{n \to \infty} \phi_{m} = 2

Since the text gives us that F n m F^m_n = i = 1 m \displaystyle \sum_{i=1}^m F n i m F^m_{n-i} we can evaluate F n + 1 m F^m_{n+1} as follows: F n + 1 m F^m_{n+1} = i = 1 m \displaystyle \sum_{i=1}^m F n + 1 i m F^m_{n+1-i} = F n m F^m_n + F n 1 m F^m_{n-1} + \ldots + F n m + 1 m F^m_{n-m+1} = F n m F^m_n + F n 1 m F^m_{n-1} + \ldots + F n m + 1 m F^m_{n-m+1} + F n m m F^m_{n-m} - F n m m F^m_{n-m} = 2 F n m 2\cdot F^m_n - F n m m F^m_{n-m} . It's clear that F n + 1 m F n m \frac {F^m_{n+1}}{F^m_n} = 2 F n m F n m m F n m \frac {2\cdot F^m_{n} - F^m_{n-m}}{F^m_n} = 2 -- F n m m F n m \frac {F^m_{n - m}}{F^m_n} . Since Fibonacci - like sequences, obviously, grow monotonically, for n sufficient large (i.e. for n approaching infinity) the fraction becomes 0 and the result we find is 2 \boxed {2}

K T
Sep 15, 2018

For F m F^m , each term (except for the first m ones) is equal to the sum of m previous terms. So if we expand two adjacent terms F k m F^m_k and F k + 1 m F^m_{k+1} we get:

F k m = Σ i = k m k 1 F i m F^m_k=\Sigma_{i=k-m}^{k-1} F^m_i and

F k + 1 m = Σ i = k m + 1 k F i m F^m_{k+1}=\Sigma_{i=k-m+1}^{k} F^m_i .

Using the overlap in the ranges: F k + 1 m = Σ i = k m k 1 F i m F k m m + F k m = 2 F k m F k m m F^m_{k+1}=\Sigma_{i=k-m}^{k-1} F^m_i-F^m_{k-m}+F^m_k=2F^m_k-F^m_{k-m} .

The ratio between adjacent terms then is F k + 1 m F k m = 2 F k m m F k m \frac{F^m_{k+1}}{F^m_k}=2-\frac{F^m_{k-m}}{F^m_{k}} .

We are told that ϕ m = lim k F k + 1 m F k m \phi_m=\lim_{k\to\infty}{\frac{F^m_{k+1}}{F^m_{k}}} exists. From this we can infer that lim k F k m m F k m = ϕ m m \lim_{k\to\infty}\frac{F^m_{k-m}}{F^m_{k}}=\phi_m^{-m} . And since for m>1, ϕ m \phi_m must be larger than 1(*), we know lim m ϕ m m = 0 \lim_{m\to\infty}\phi_m^{-m}=0 , and lim m ϕ m = lim m lim k F k + 1 m F k m = 2 0 \lim_{m\to\infty}\phi_m=\lim_{m\to\infty}\lim_{k\to\infty}\frac{F^m_{k+1}}{F^m_{k}}=2-0 .

(*) [Having ϕ m = 1 \phi_m =1 would lead to a contradiction: if m terms are (limitwise) equal, adding them up gives a next term m times as large.]

Simon Fredsgaard
Sep 11, 2018

Let m N m \in \mathbb{N} You can find that

F n + 1 m F n m = i = 1 m F n + 1 i m F n m = i = 0 m 1 F n i m F n m \frac{F_{n+1}^m}{F_n^m} = \sum_{i=1}^m \frac{F_{n+1-i}^m}{F_n^m} = \sum_{i=0}^{m-1} \frac{F_{n-i}^m}{F_n^m}

and when you can take the limit

lim n F n + 1 m F n m = lim n i = 0 m 1 F n i m F n m = i = 0 m 1 lim n F n i m F n m = i = 0 m 1 ϕ m i = i = 0 m 1 ( 1 ϕ m ) i \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \frac{F_{n+1}^m}{F_n^m} = \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \sum_{i=0}^{m-1} \frac{F_{n-i}^m}{F_n^m} = \sum_{i=0}^{m-1} \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \frac{F_{n-i}^m}{F_n^m} = \sum_{i=0}^{m-1} \phi_m^{-i} = \sum_{i=0}^{m-1} (\frac{1}{\phi_m})^i ,

which is a geometric series, so

ϕ m = lim n F n + 1 m F n m = 1 ( 1 ϕ m ) m 1 1 ϕ m \phi_m = \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \frac{F_{n+1}^m}{F_n^m} = \frac{1-(\frac{1}{\phi_m})^m}{1-\frac{1}{\phi_m}} .

You can then rearrange it to become.

ϕ m ( 1 1 ϕ m ) = 1 ( 1 ϕ m ) m ϕ m 1 = 1 ( 1 ϕ m ) m ϕ m = 2 + ( 1 ϕ m ) m \phi_m(1-\frac{1}{\phi_m}) = 1-(\frac{1}{\phi_m})^m \Rightarrow \phi_m - 1 = 1-(\frac{1}{\phi_m})^m \Rightarrow \phi_m = 2 + (\frac{1}{\phi_m})^m

Because 1 ϕ m 0 \frac{1}{\phi_m} \geq 0 it follows that ϕ m 2 \phi_m \geq 2 m N \forall m \in \mathbb{N}

Therefore are lim m ϕ m 2 \lim_{m \rightarrow \infty} \phi_m \geq 2

You can also see that

lim m ϕ m = lim m 2 + ( 1 ϕ m ) m 2 + ( 1 2 ) m = 2 \lim_{m \rightarrow \infty} \phi_m = \lim_{m \rightarrow \infty} 2 + (\frac{1}{\phi_m})^m \leq 2 + (\frac{1}{2})^m = 2

Therefore is

lim m ϕ m = 2 \lim_{m \rightarrow \infty} \phi_m = 2

Vinod Kumar
Sep 11, 2018

n-nacci sequence has this ratio as the root of x+x^(-n)=2, which is nearest to 2 in the large-n limit. Answer=2.

Malcolm Rich
Sep 10, 2018

As shown elsewhere each solution of the m-th sequence can be expressed as phi(m)^m=sum of all lower powers of phi(m).

For m=2, the solution is 1.62 >1.

We can demonstrate that this is an increasing function w.r.t m by multiplying both sides of the equation by phi (m).

Phi (m) ^(m+1) = Sum of lower powers of phi (m) plus 1. Which with a simple derivative allows us to demonstrate that we are dealing with a monotonic increasing function.

We know from the simple solution shown earlier that phi(m)^(m-1)*(phi(m)-2) = -1 and dividing by phi(m)^(m-1) we see that Phi(m)-2 is a very small negative number which approaches 0 at the limit

Sebastian Janker
Sep 10, 2018

42 is the answer of the sense of life, so 4 divided by 2 is 2. that was realy easy

Prince Zarzees
Sep 10, 2018

include<stdio.h>

float f(int n,int m) {int i,s=0; if(n<m) return 0; if(n==m) return 1; for(i=1;i<=m;i++) { s=s+f(n-i,m);

}

return s;
}

int main() {int m,n; float g;

scanf("%d,%d",&m,&n);

g=f(n+1,m)/f(n,m); printf("%.10f",g); } JUST WRITE THIS C PROGRAMME, AND INPUT SOME VALUE LIKE (60,70) FOR n AND m , you will find the ratio 2

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