Trigonometry and Fibonacci Numbers

Author(s): Barry Lewis

Source: The Mathematical Gazette, Vol. 91, No. 521 (Jul., 2007), pp. 216-226
Published by: The Mathematical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40378344 .
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216 THE MATHEMATICALGAZETTE

and Fibonaccinumbers
Trigonometry
BARRY LEWIS

This articlesets out to exploresome of theconnections betweentwo

seemingly distinct mathematical objects:trigonometric functionsand the
integersequences composed of the Fibonacci and Lucas numbers. It
establishesthatelementsof Fibonacci/Lucas sequencesobeyidentities that
arecloselyrelatedto traditionaltrigonometric It thenexploitsthis
identities.
relationshipby converting existingtrigonometricresultsintocorresponding
Fibonacci/Lucas results.Alongtheway it uses mathematical toolsthatare
notusuallyassociatedwitheitheroftheseobjects.
We startwith a derivationof explicitformulasfor each of these
different
objects.

De Moivre'sformula
The additionformulaeforcosineandsinegive:
cosrd = cos(r - 1)0 cos# - sin(r - 1)0 sinO
sinr0 = sin(r - 1)0 cosO + cos(r - 1)0 sinO
andthismaybe written
in thematrixform
/cosr#\ cos0 -sin0 cos(r - 1)0
Isinrfll sino coso sin(r - 1)0
repeateduse thengives
r- 1
cos rO cos 0 - sin0 cos 0
sinr0 sin0 cosö sinö
Now we use themethodsof linearalgebrato finda way of evaluating
thepowersofthismatrix:
(i) theeigenvaluesXaregivenby
cos 0 - X - sin0 9-
= 0 => X2 2ÂCOS0 +1=0
sin# cose? - X
complexroots
andthisequationhas theintriguing
X = cos 0 ± i sin0.
(ii) theeigenvectorsarethengivenby
cos 0 - sin0 lx\ , v/jc\
= (cos 0 ± i sin0)
sin0 cos 0^ \y) \y)
andthisreducesto
v = ±ix.

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 ANDFIBONACCINUMBERS
TRIGONOMETRY 217

are
So therequiredeigenvectors

-
(-') (!)•
(iii) we easilyfindthat

(iv) thisleadstothematrix
identity
coso -sinö / i \\ cos0 + /sin0 0 2 i\
sinö cosö i
\-i J 0 cosö -/sinö \ =fI'
Pluggingthisinto(1) nowgives
r- 1
cos rd cos 6 - sin6 cos 6
sinr6 ûnd cos 6 sinö
r-\
I 1 l\ cosO + isinO 0 \ i cosö
\-/ i) 0 cosö -/sinö 1 ^ sinö

/ 1 l\ (coso + /sinó/-1 0 ļ i coso'

"\-//j 0 (coso -/sino)1"-1 i ^ sin(9
out theright-hand
and,aftermultiplying side and some simplification,
we
findthat:
sinr6 = ±i((cos 6 + / sin0)r - (cos 6 - i sin6)r)
cos rO = \((cos 0 + / sin6)r + (cos 0 - i sin0)r).
It is a simpleconsequenceofthisthat
cos rd + / sinrO = (cos 6 + / sin0)r
and De Moivre'sformulamiraculously emerges.In passing,we recall a
fundamental
propertyof thetrigonometricfunctions
cos20 + sin26 = 1.

Binet'sformula
but the siblingLucas
The Fibonaccisequenceneeds no introduction,
Thesesequencesobeythesamerecurrence
sequencemaynotbe so familiar.
relation- each termis the sum of the two previousterms- but have
differentinitialterms
{Fr} = {0, 1, 1,2, 3, 5, 8,...}and{Lr} = {2, 1, 3,4,7, 11, 18, ...}.

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218 THEMATHEMATICAL
GAZETTE

Usingtherecurrence
relations
Fr = Fr_i + Fr_2 and Lr = Lr.x + Lr_2
itis an easytasktoprovethat
andinduction,
2Fr = Fr_i + Lr_i and 2Lr = 5Fr_i+ Lr.x.
We maywritethisinthematrix form

li* = ļ/l è ! /ír-l'

5\ļLr-l\ = '
ļFr 2\1 lj^.,) ^ i ļ/V-i
andrepeateduse thengives

^ - h] *)~ h| 1iJ- (2)

We use thesamemethodsoflinearalgebra:
(i) theeigenvaluesaregivenby

i-A ļ 2
i è-A
Let us writetherootsofthisequationin theform
1 + V5 , ^ 1 - V5
0i = - - ^2 = - - '
2 2
(ii) theeigenvectors aregivenby

whichreduceto
(ii)M '-
y=
^
so thattheeigenvectors
are
1 1
j^ and L .
V5 V5
(iii) we findthat

'
f5~fs \ -§

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TRIGONOMETRY AND FIBONACCI NUMBERS 219

(iv) we may write

'H\ 1 ! 0. 0 if'
H/ is -fs 0 02 ¿ _!
so that

'
,n ļ£ -£ \ ° 05-1i -f
Usingthisin (2) we nowhave
/l 1 U"> 0 i f M
[L, =
\*V [^ -^ \ 0 05-1 i -f W
fortheFibonacci
whichon expansionleads to Binet'sexplicitformula
numbersandthecorresponding formula fortheLucas numbers:

Fr = - 05) and U = + </>r2).

^(0Ï ^(0Ï
in this.As a simpleconsequenceofthese
Butthereis a hiddentreasure
forms,
explicit we deducethat:

- = 01 =* = 01 = ;
2~ I" 2-) 2
similarly

- 02 =» = ;
^^ (-2-) ~2
whichwerefirst
publishedin [1]. we
Finally, notethat
L2r- 5F? = 40Ï05 = 4(0!02)r = 4(-l)r.

A geometricinterpretation
The similarity The two
of theseresultshas a revealinginterpretation.
functions
basic trigonometric are simplythecoordinate functions
of a point
on theunitcircle.
The matrixwe haveiterated
cos 6 - sin6
sin6 cos 6
has a simplegeometricmeaning:it mapstheunitcircleintoitself- it is a
rotationof6 radians.

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220 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE

FIGURE 1

The FibonacciandLucas numbers havea corresponding geometricrole.

Whenr is even,thetermsof thesequencesare thecoordinate functionsof
integerpointson thepositiveportionof one hyperbola,and whenr is odd
theyaretheco-ordinatefunctionsofinteger of
pointson thepositiveportion
anotherhyperbola;thesehyperbolasharea commonasymptote.

FIGURE 2

Thistimethecorresponding
matrix

'i i'
.* *■

mapsone leg ofeachhyperbola intotheother.

Fundamental identities
Firstwe lookat thetraditional
formulasoftrigonometryanduse theseto
findcorrespondingFibonacci/Lucas We startwiththeaddition
counterparts.
formulaforsine:
sin(z + w) = sinz cos w + sinw cosz.

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TRIGONOMETRY AND FIBONACCI NUMBERS 221

We are led to examine:

FrLs+ FsLr
= - + (0Í - #)(« + 05))
+ <t>i)
f5((iï <t>i){<t>\
+(-îypf- c-wr - </>r
= f5(<pr +tr +(-D>r - (-wr - #+f)
= Zrr+S.

Thisbecomes
Fr+ S = \{FrLs + FsLr).
Whataboutthecosineofa sum? We have
cos (z + w) = cos z cos w - sinz sinw.
We mightexpectthatthisshouldcomefrom
LrLs - ĶĶ

= (0Ī + 05) + - - -
(0Î 05) |(tf 02)(*ī 0*2)
- (-D50rs- (-i)0P + 02+i)
= 0ï+5+ (-wr + (-D50r5+ 02+s- l5(fi+s
it
butwe needtomodify
LrLs - 5ĶĶ

= (0Ï + 05) + -
(0Î 0'2)-\(ti- 02)(0Î 02)
+ {-wr - 0$+s
= tt+s+ (-im-5 + (-i)50r5+ 0rs- 0r + (-i)50rA
= 2(-l)%_s.
So

I*-, =
^(LA-5FrF5)
in whichitis assumedthats < r.

Hereis a completelistof Fibonacci/Lucas lookingforall the

identities,
froma trigonometric
worldlikeidentities textbook.
Althoughmanyofthese
formulashavebeenpublishedbefore(forexample[2]) theydon'tappearto
have been presentedin a mannerthatemphasisestheir'trigonometric'
character.Throughout, it is assumedthats < r; in the sum/difference
formulaswe also requirethatr ands shouldhavethesameparity.

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222 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE

Binet'sformulas Fundamental
identity
' = á>\+ 05
Lr
Ü- 5F? = 4(-ir
\[5Fr= 05-05
Addition
formulas Sum/difference
*r+ i-lp-*F, =
2Fr+s = FrLs+ FsLr J^*")
2(-l)»Fr_, = ĶLs-ĶLr Ķ-(-lfr-s)Fs =
F^^^
2Lr+î = LA + 5FrFs ^ + (.1)^-^ =
Lļ(r+s)Liir-s)
2(-l)*Lr +J = LA - 5FrFs ,(r.
Lr-(-l)2 Ls = 5/'^r+i)/<ļ(l._i)

Products 'De Moivre'formula

5ĶĶ = Lr+s-(-iyLr.s
FL -
- F + S ++( (-1)1VF ^ * Vfo ¿nr± VSfir
trLs Pr /V_;y I I = .
= +
LrLs Lr+S (-l)sLr.s

Applications
Therearemanyexamplesin whicha classicalresultin trigonometry can
inspirea Fibonaccicounterpart. This firstone providesa verysurprising
result.It is inspired
bythetrigonometricidentity
sin6 = 2nsin^0 cos^0 cos^=t(9... cos^0.
Thisis a simpleconsequenceofthedoubleangleformula forthesine
sin6 = 2 sin£0 cos \Q,
= 22 sin|0 cos|0 cos£0;
andthen,inductively, we obtain
sin0 = 2nsin^0 cos^0 cos^t0... cos^0.
as required.The Fibonaccicounterpart
of thiscomesfromthefirstaddition
formula
2F2n= 2Fn+n = FnLn+ LnFn
so that

Thenwe have
Flrn = ^ - l/t^' - In = F2r-2nL2r-2nL2r-ln

we obtainthebeautiful
and,inductively, factorisation

A:= 1
an unexpected
gem.

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 ANDFIBONACCINUMBERS
TRIGONOMETRY 223

Another exampleis basedon a 'telescoping'sum

y
1 tan(r + 1)0
+
¿rí)COSÍfc0cos(Jfc 1)0 sin0
because
Thistelescopes
cosr0cos(r + I)0(tan(r+ l)0-tanr0)
= sin(r+ l)0cosr0-cos(r + l)0sinr0
= sin((r+ l)0-r0) = sin0
andhence

Y - = (tan0-tanO)
v ' + ... + (tan(r+
v 1)0 - tanr0)
'
^cosA:0cos(Ä:+l)0
= tan(r+l)0.
as required.

we startwith the difference

In the Fibonaccicounterpart, between
successiveFibonacci'tangents'
~
F(r+l)n _ Fm _ F(r + \)nLrn ^(r + \)rfrn
L(r+l)n Lm L(r+i)nLrn
The numeratorofthelatterexpression byusingone ofthe
maybe simplified
additionidentities
- ~
F(r+l)nLrn L(r+l)nFrn 2(-l) Fn.
So we maywrite
F(r+l)n_Ķn = 2(-l)rnFn
L(r+l)n Lrn ^(r+l)n^rn
andthenthesum'telescopes'to give
(-1)*" = Fir+l)n
y

as required.

Thissumhas an infinite oftheRatioTest).We have

form(courtesy

^ ir1»-^1* i ,im1-fe)T+1
1 since
N" < 1.
V5 lUJ

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224 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE

So we have

y (-D*n= _±_
2Fn\5
k= oL(k+ l)nLjcn
whenn = 1, 2 respectively,
In particular we have

f ±1L - -L and Y - ! l-

That Fibonacci/Lucassequences have the 'De Moivre' property

suggeststhattrigonometricresultsthatalso relyon it willhave a Fibonacci
counterpart.To illustratethe process,I have drawninspiration froma
traditional
textbook. The following questioncomesfrom[3] and calls fora
closedformforthesum

C = X(jr)cos2*0.
Thereis a standardway of evaluatingsuch sums based on De Moivre's
Firstwe createtwoparts,one ofwhichis real andone imaginary:
formula.

C = £([)cos2À:<9 and iS = ]£ ([) /sin2*0.

k>0 k>0

Thenwe workwiththeirsum

C + iS= y(r)cos2Jfc0 = y (CWô + /sinô)2*

+ y(r)/sin2Jfc0
éov*; k?oXK) kToKÍCJ
= (l +(cos(9 + /sinö)2)r

= (cos^ + í sin6)r((cosö + /sino)"1+ (coso + i sind))

= (cosrd + i sinrO)((eos 6 - i sind) + (cosd + i sind))

= (cosrd + i sinrd)2rcosrd.
therealandimaginary
Now,extracting partsgives

y (r)cos2A:d= 2rcosrdcosrdandY (r)sin2A:d= 2rcosrdsinrd. (3)

izir*' fc>oVAC/
The Fibonacci/Lucas is derivedby identicalmeans- butit
counterpart
has a new term.Firstwe definethe Golden (irrational)and the Base
(rational)parts

^F= +
l([)(-D(r *>1V5F2,„andL=
£ ((¡(-if^I^,.
k>0 k>0

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 ANDFIBONACCINUMBERS
TRIGONOMETRY 225

Againwe evaluatethesum
L+ V5F= XtÖi-ir*^ =
+ V5F2fa)
£(i)<-l>fr+«"(2tf")
= = 2(-ir(i + (-Dvf)r
2(-i)mx(0(-D>f/
= 2(-\T<t>?{<t>?
+ (-l)>ï)r= 2(-l)rn0Ï" + (-l)Vï
l(j\

Now we 'extract'theBase andGoldenpartsso that

F = l(i)(-if+k)n^n= Äand L= Xfjrk-ir^ = LiL„r.

Thisleadstothesymmetric
identity

*>0 k>0

We end thissection,as we beganthearticle,withmatrices.The first

in theform
equationof(3) maybe written

i 1 '
\ \ \
ļ 2 cos 26 2 cos 6 cos 6
12 1 cos 4(9 = 22cos20 cos 20 .
13 3 1 cos 66 23 cos36 cos 3(9

The inverseof thePascal matrixis particularly

simple,and leads to the
dualresult
1I i I 1 1
cos 26 _j ļ 2 cos 6 cos 0
cos46 =1-21 22 cos26 cos 2(9
cos 6(9 -1 3 -3 1 23 cos3(9cos 3(9

whichthengives
+
cos2r(9 = ]T (-l)r *(i)2* cos*6 cos k6.
k>0

Thereis also a sineversionofthis:

+
sin2r(9 = ]£ (-l)r *(f)2* cos*(9 sin£(9.

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226 GAZETTE
THEMATHEMATICAL

The Fibonacci/Lucas is
counterpart

k>0 k>0

Conclusion
It is worthmanipulating Binet'sformulato see whyFibonacci/Lucas
numbers exhibitthisunexpected
propensity We
behaviour.
to trigonometric
have

-"-(HS)-
Butwe have
coshz = cos iz
andso
^* «(i *(£))■
resultforFibonaccinumbers
The corresponding is
2'r . u/r i /0i \\ 2'r+1 • //r, /0i \\

and the hyperbolicaspects of the

This explainsboth the trigonometric
behaviourofFibonacci/Lucasnumbers.

There remainsone conundrum.The appearanceof the Fibonacci

sequencein natureis well knownand extensive.But whereis theLucas
oneto theother- ordoes it?
sequence?Surely,naturedoesn'tprefer

Acknowledgement
Thisarticlewas muchimprovedin responseto therepeatedefforts
ofan
reviewer.
incisiveandenthusiastic

References
1. S. Fisk,TheFibonacciQuarterly1 (April1963)p. 85.
2. L. Taylor,TheFibonacciQuarterly 20 (November1982)p. 369.
3. M. Gow,A courseinpuremathematics, EdwardArnold(1992),p. 166,
Question28 (i).
BARRY LEWIS
Flat 7, 110 HighgateHill,LondonN6 5HE
e-mail:barry@mathscounts.org

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