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P(k+1)isa conditional statement. A conditional statement fails only if the hypothe- sis is true and the conclusion is false. From the hypothesis that k = k +1, we can easily derive k+ 1 =k-+2. This proof of the induction step is valid, but we have not proved that n =n +1 for all n € N, because the basis step is false: 1 # 2. The basis step cannot be omitted. / Next we illustrate a similar error. The proof of the induction step must be valid for each value of the induction parameter where it is needed.The Principle of Induction 57 3.18. Example. All people have the same sex (!?). We try to prove by induction on n that the people in every set of n people have the same sex. Certainly all the people in a set consisting of one person have the same sex, so the claim holds for n = 1. Now suppose the claim holds for n = k, and let 5 = {a1,..., a41} be a set of k + 1 people. Deleting a; yields a set T of k people. Deleting a2 yields another set T’ of k people. By the induction hypothesis, the people in T have the same sex, and the people in 7’ have the same sex. Now all people in S$ have the same sex as a;41. The error is that the proof of the induction step is invalid when going from n = 1 ton = 2. In this case, the sets T and T’ have no common element, so we cannot use the induction hypothesis to conclude that a; and az have the same sex. 1 In our next result, the statement has a natural number as a param- eter and clearly is true when the parameter is 1. Also, the statement for n = k + 1 involves quantities used in the statement for n = k. These properties suggest trying induction as a technique of proof. 3.19. Proposition. If x, ..., x, are numbers in the interval [0, 1], then T]a@-*) 21-)ox. i=l isl] Proof: We use induction on n. Basis step: For n = 1, the inequality is 1 — x, > 1— x1, which is true. Induction step: Assume the claim when n = k. Given numbers ‘X1, +++. %k+1) applying the induction hypothesis to the first k of them yields TierQ—a;) = 1-7 27. Since x441 < 1, multiplying by 1—x,,1 preserves the inequality. This explains the first line below. kyl k ‘ []a-20 =x] ]a-») 2 d-xw(1- Dx) iat it = k ‘ in =loma- at (xe yx) 21-)x i=l i=l The next step expands the product. The term x41 Di.) 4; is nonnega- tive, since x; > 0 for all i; thus dropping it does not increase the value. The remaining terms become the desired right side. Thus []}*} (1 — x;) = 1-4. x, which completes the induction step. . 3.20. Corollary. If 0 < a < 1 andn€N, then (1—a)" > 1-—na. Proof: Set x1 =--- =x, =a in Proposition 3.19. .58 Chapter 3: Induction APPLICATIONS Applications of induction occur throughout mathematics. We solve the Checkerboard and Handshake Problems, characterize when polyno- mials are equal, and solve a problem about cutting regions into pieces. To solve the Checkerboard Problem, we need to sum the squares of the first n natural numbers. Since the sum must be an integer, we obtain as a corollary that n(n + 1)(2n + 1)/6 is an integer for each n € N. 3.21. Proposition. For all n ¢ N, 77_,i? = n(n + 1)(2n + 1)/6. Proof: We use induction on n. Basis step: For n = 1, the sum is 1, and the right side is 1-2-3/6 = 1. Induetion step: Suppose that the formula is valid when.n =k. By the induction hypothesis, we have Y“t_, i? = k(k + 1)(2k + 1)/6, and hence _ Mkt DOR+Y 6 +kt = e+ 0 A yatn] 1 2) = aay tts A k+ ue (2k + 3) ‘The last expression is the formula when n = k + 1, proving the induction step. By the principle of induction, the formula holds for all n. . Since the formula for n = k +1 involves the factor k + 1, we factored out k + 1 when it appeared instead of multiplying out the numerator. Keeping the goal in mind often saves time in computations. 3.22. Solution. The Checkerboard Problem. In the n-by-n checkerboard, there is one n-by-n square, and there are n? one-by-one squares. In gen- eral, there are k-k = k? squares with sides of length n—k+1, forlP(n) whenevern > 1” instead of “P(k) => P(k + 1) whenever k € N. We can use induction to prove that P(n) holds for {n € Z: n > no} by replacing P(1) by P(no) in the basis step. This is equivalent to treating n—no+1as the induction parameter. Any integer-valued function of the variables in our problem can serve as an induction parameter. We use these remarks in determining when polynomials are equal. The zeros of a function f are the solutions to the equation f(x) = 0. Recall that the zero polynomial does not have a degree. 3.23. Lemma. If f is a polynomial of degree d, then a is a zero of f if and only if f(x) = (x — a)h(x) for some polynomial h of degree d — 1. Proof: By the definition of polynomial, we have f(x) = D4 «x', with d a nonnegative integer and cy # 0. If the condition f(x) = (x — a)h(x) holds, then f(a) = It remains only to assume that fo)- = 0 and obtain the factorization. Since f(x) = co + 01, ix! and f(a) = f= j1)-farmes—evs Ste =) = Pa! -a'), ist By Lemma 3.13, for i > 1 we have x! — a! = (x ~ a)hi(x), where hy(x) = Dye alt . Using Proposition 3.12a, factoring (x—a) from each term in £01) = Dh, ci(x! ~ a!) yields f(x) = (x — a)h(x), where h(x) = D4 hi @. Each h; has degree i — 1, and thus h has degree d — 1. 8.24, Theorem. Every polynomial of degree d has at most d zeros. Proof: We use induction on d. Let f be a polynomial of degree d. Basis step: Ifd = 0, then f(x) = co # 0 for alll x, and f has no zeros. Induction step: Consider d > 1. If f has no zero, then we are done, so let a be a zero of f. By Lemma 3.23, we have f(x) = (x —a)h(x), where his a polynomial of degree d — 1. Since nonzero numbers have nonzero product, the only zeros of f are the zeros of x — a and the zeros of h. Since x — a = 0 implies x =a, the first factor has exactly one zero. Since h has degree d — 1, the induction hypothesis implies that h has at most d — 1 zeros. We conclude that f has at most d zeros. s 8.25. Corollary. Two real polynomials are equal if and only if their cor- responding coefficients are equal. Proof: Let f and g be polynomials. If their corresponding coefficients are equal, then f(x) = g(x) for all x € R, because they have the same formula. Thus they are the same function.60 Chapter 3: Induction Conversely, suppose that f(x) = g(x) for allx eR. Leth = f-g. The difference of two polynomials is a polynomial (see Exercise 13). Since A(x) = 0 for all x € R, Theorem 3.24 implies that h cannot have degree d for any d > 0 and thus must be the zero polynomial. Therefore, for each i the coefficients of x‘ in f and in g are equal. . The proof of Corollary 3.25 actually implies a stronger statement: If polynomials f and g are equal at more than d places, where d is the maximum of the degrees of f and g, then they are the same polynomial. In the induction step of a proof by induction, we consider an arbitrary instance of the hypotheses for one value of the parameter, and we find an instance for a smaller value of the parameter in order to apply the induc- tion hypothesis. In the proof of Theorem 3.24, we factored out x ~ a to obtain a polynomial of smaller degree to which we could apply the induc- tion hypothesis. Finding an appropriate smaller problem may take some effort. In the next example, the smaller instance emerges by stripping away pieces of the larger instance in an interesting way. 8.26. Solution. The Handshake Problem. Let a handshake party be a party with n married couples where no spouses shake hands with each other and the 2n — 1 people other than the host shake hands with dif- ferent numbers of people. We use induction on n to prove that in every handshake party, the hostess shakes hands with exactly n — 1 people. If no one shakes with his or her spouse, then each person shakes with between 0 and 2n — 2 people. Since the 2n — 1 numbers are distinct, they must be 0 through 2n — 2. The figure below illustrates for n € (1,2, 3} the situation that is forced; each pair of encircled points indicates a married couple (host and hostess are rightmost), and two points are connected by a curve if and only if those two people shook hands. ) 0) Basis step: If n = 1, then the hostess shakes with 0 (which equals n— 1), because the host and hostess don’t shake. Induction step: Suppose that n > 1. The induction hypothesis states that the claim holds for a handshake party with n — 1 couples. Let P; denote the person (other than the host) who shakes with i people. Since Py,-2 Shakes with all but one person, Py must be the person omitted. Hence Pp is the spouse of Pz,-2. Furthermore, this married couple is not the host and hostess, since S = (Po, Pan-z) does not include the host. Everyone not in S shakes with exactly one person in S, namely P2,-2. Ifwe delete S to obtain a smaller party, then we have n — 1 couples remaining