Chapter 10

Recurrence Relations
1 The First-Order Linear Recurrence Relation
- Let k Z , and c (6= 0), c
+
n n 1 , c n 2 , . . . , c n k (6= 0) be constants. If a n , n 0, is a discrete function,
then
c n a n + c n1 a n1 + c n 2 a n 2 + + c n k a nk = f (n), n k .
is a linear recurrence relation (with constant coefficients) of order k . When f (n) = 0 for all n 0, the
relation is called homogeneous, otherwise it is nonhomogeneous.

- Consider a n = c a n 1 , n 0, c :constant

Example 1 Solve a n = 7a n 1 , n 1, with a 2 = 98.

Example 2 Solve a 12 if a n2 +1 = 5a n2 , a n > 0, n 0, a 2 = 2.

Example 3 Solve a n = n a n1 , n 1 and a 0 = 1.

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2 The Second-Order Linear Homogeneous Recurrence Relation

- Consider
c n a n + c n 1 a n 1 + c n2 a n 2 = 0, n 2. (1)
Then solution of the recurrence is of the form

an = crn (2)

where c 6= 0 and r 6= 0
Substituting (2) into (1), we obtain

c n (c r n ) + c n 1 (c r n1 ) + c n2 (c r n 2 ) = 0.

Then
c n r 2 + c n1 r + c n 2 = 0. (3)
Eq. (3) is called the characteristic equation, and its roots r1 and r2 are called the characteristics roots.

 
Case A : Distinct Real Roots

Example 1 Solve a n + a n 1 6a n 2 = 0, n 2, a 0 = 1, a 1 = 8.

Example 2 Solve the Fibonacci relation Fn +2 = Fn+1 + Fn , n 0, F0 = 0, F1 = 1.

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Example 3 For n 0, let S = {1, 2, 3, . . . , n} (when n = 0,S = ), and let a n denote the # of subsets of
S that conatin no consecutive integers. Find and solve a recurrence relation for a n .

Example 4 Find a recurrence relation for the # of binary sequence length n that contain no consec-
utive 0s

Example 5 Solve 2a n +3 = a n+2 + 2a n +1 a n , n 0, a 0 = 0, a 1 = 1, a 2 = 2.

 
Case B : Complex Roots

1. p
r1 = x + i y = x 2 + y 2 (cos + i sin )

p
r2 = x i y = x 2 + y 2 (cos i sin )

2. Note that if z = r (cos sin ), thenz n = r n (cos n sin n )

For example

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Example 6 Solve a n = 2(a n 1 a n 2 ), n 2, a 0 = 1, a 1 = 2.

 
Example 7 Find D n = b b 0 0 0 0 . . . 0 0 0 0 0 



 b b b 0 0 0 . . . 0 0 0 0 0 

 0 b b b 0 0 . . . 0 0 0 0 0 

 0 0 b b b 0 . . . 0 0 0 0 0 

 0 0 0 b b b . . . 0 0 0 0 0 

 ... 


 0 0 0 0 0 0 . . . b b b 0 0 

 0 0 0 0 0 0 . . . 0 b b b 0 

 0 0 0 0 0 0 . . . 0 0 b b b 
 0 0 0 0 0 0 ... 0 0 0 b b 

4
 
Case C : Repeated Real Roots
Let r be the characteristic root. The general solution is of the form

a n = c 1r n + c 2n r n

Example 8 Solve a n+2 = 4a n+1 4a n , n 0, a 0 = 1, a 1 = 3.

Example 9 Solve 2a n +3 = a n+2 + 2a n +1 a n , n 0, a 0 = 0, a 1 = 1, a 2 = 2.

Example 10 Solve a n + 6a n1 + 12a n 2 + 8a n3 = 0, n 3, a 0 = 1, a 1 = 2, a 2 = 8.

Example 11 Solve a n 4a n 1 + 5a n 2 2a n 3 = 0, n 3, a 0 = 1, a 1 = 3, a 2 = 6.

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3 The Linear Nonhomogeneous Recurrence Relation

- Consider
c n a n + c n1 a n1 + c n 2 a n 2 + + c n k a nk = f (n ), n k .
where c i : constants for n k i n.
(h) (p )
The solution a n is the sum of the parts a n and a n .
(h)
a n : the homogeneous solution, which satisfies the equation with f (n) = 0.

c n a n + c n 1 a n 1 + c n2 a n 2 + + c n k a n k = 0
(p )
a n : a particular solution to the equation.

c n a n + c n 1 a n 1 + c n2 a n 2 + + c n k a n k = f (n)

a n = a n(h) + a n(p )
(p ) (p )
There is no general way to find a n . However, when f (n) is in a relatively simple form, a n can be
determined by method of undetermined coefficients.
Example 1 Solve a n + 2a n 1 = n + 3, n 1, a 0 = 3.

Example 2 Solve a n = a n 1 + n 1, n > 1, a 1 = 0.

- In general, for the nonhomogeneous relation

a n = a n1 + f (n )
= a n2 + f (n 1) + f (n)
= a n3 + f (n 2) + f (n 1) + f (n)
...
n
X
= a0 + f (i )
i =1

For example, a n = a n 1 + 3n 2

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Example 3 Solve a n 3a n 1 = 5(7n ), n 1, a 0 = 2.

Example 4 Solve a n 3a n 1 = 5(3n ), n 1, a 0 = 2.

- In general, if f (n) = q r , q, r : constants

n

1. The first-order relation:

(h)

krn if a n 6= c 1 r n
a n(p ) = (h)
k (n r n ) if a n = c 1 r n

2. The second-order relation

(h)
k (n r ) if a n 6= c 1 r n + c 2 r1n , r 6= r1
n
(h)
a n(p ) = k (n 2 r n ) if a n = c 1 r n + c 2 n r n
k (r n )

else

Example 5 Towers of Hanoi

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Example 6 Solve a n + 2a n 1 + a n 2 = 2n , n 2, a 0 = 1, a 1 = 2.

Example 7 Character set: = {0, 1, 2, 3}. There are 410 strings of length 10. How many of these more
than 1 million strings contain an even number of 1s.

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Example 8 nth Fibonacci number

int fib1(int n) {
if (n<=1)
return n;
else return fib1(n-1)+fib1(n-2);
}

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4 The Methods of Generating Functions
Example 1 Solve a n 3a n 1 = n, n 1, a 0 = 1

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Example 2 Solve a n+2 5a n +1 + 6a n = 2, n 2, a 0 = 3, a 1 = 7.

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