Mathematical Induction

http://www.math.cl/induction.html

Mathematical Induction Problems.

1. The Lucas numbers are dened by L0 = 2, L1 = 1, and Ln = Ln1 + Ln2 for n 2. Prove that for all non-negative integer n and d. d ( d) di (a) L6(n+i)+1 = 22d L6n+1+3d i=0 i (1) (b) L6(n+2)+1 = 18L6(n+1)+1 L6n+1 (c) L6n+1 1 4n(6n + 1)(4n 3) (mod 128) 2. Let Ln denote the nth Lucas number. Prove by induction that: L2n = 2n+1 cn 1 where cn is an odd number. 3. Prove by mathematical induction that for every positive integer n: (a) 5 divides 1 + ( 1+2 17 )2 + ( 12 17 )2

(b) 52 divides 1 + ( 1+2 17 )4 + ( 12 17 )4 4. Let 5 (x) = x4 + x3 + x2 + x + 1 and let gk (x) = 1 +

4 (5 (x) xi )k i=1

(a) Prove that for any integer n 0, [5 (x)]2 is factor of g10n+6 (x) + 3(10n + 6)5 (x). (b) Let p = 5 be an odd prime divisor of 5 (x) and let x be a positive integer. Show that p2 divides g(p1)n+6 (x) + 3((p 1)n + 6)5 (x). 5. Let a be a xed positive integer. Let {Sn } be the sequence dened by S0 = 3, S1 = 0, S2 = 2a, and Sn = a Sn2 + (a 1) Sn3 for n 3. Prove that for any non-negative integer n: S6n+4 (2n + 1)(3n + 2)(2n a + 1)a2 (mod a4 )

6. Let Fn denote the nth Fibonacci number. Prove that: (a) For any integer n 3, F2n + 22 + (1)n 31 is divisible by 72 if n is even and by 7 if n is odd. (b) For any non-negative integer n, F48n+16 + 248n+16 30 is divisible by 72 . 7. Let Fn denote the nth Fibonacci number and let Ln denote the nth Lucas number. If a, b, d and n are non-negative integers, prove that: (a)
d (d) (1)di F2a(n+i)+b = i i=0
n

{ d F2an+b+ad (L2a 2) 2 = d1 (F2an+b+a(d+1) F2an+b+a(d1) )(L2a 2) 2 (b)

d (d)

if d is even, if d is odd.

{ =

i=0

i
d

(1)di L2a(n+i)+b = if d is even, if d is odd.

L2an+b+ad (L2a 2) 2 d1 (L2an+b+a(d+1) L2an+b+a(d1) )(L2a 2) 2

Note that if a is odd, the above summations are equivalent to F2an+b+ad Ld a 2 and L2an+b+ad Ld . If a is even, L2a 2 = 5Fa . a 8. Let F (n) be the nth Fibonacci number, let p be a prime number = 2, 5; and let (p) denote the period of the Fibonacci sequence modulo p (Pisano period). Prove that for any non-negative integer n: 2 p3 divides (p 1)F ((p)n) nF (p2 1) (p)

Hints.
Hint to Problem 1: Part a Let be the golden ratio. The left-hand side of the expression is equal to 6n+1 (6 1)d + (1 )6n+1 ((1 )6 1)d

Show that 6 1 = 43 and that (1 )6 1 = 4(1 )3 . See also Problem 7, part (b). Part b The identity L6(n+2)+1 = 18L6(n+1)+1 L6n+1 is a special case of formula Vajda-17a in [3]. Part c 2

Use part (b) or part (a) and the fact that the dth forward dierence of a polynomial of degree (d 1) is equal to zero. Hint to Problem 2: Although the statement is true for n = 0, it is convenient to begin the induction at n = 1. Using the formula Vajda-17c [3], we can deduce that L2n+1 = L2n 2 for 2 n 1. From this we have 1+L2n+1 = (1+L2n )((1+L2n )2). Use the induction hypothesis twice and complete the proof. See solution by Bob Prielipp to the problem that appears in [4]. Note that the sequence { ci+1 } can be used to give another proof of the inci nitude of primes [6]. Hint to Problem 3: The solution to this problem is essentially the same as Problem 5 (parts (c) and (d)) in [1]. As it is not obvious that the expressions of the problem containing radicals are integer-valued, it is necessary to prove and include this fact into the inductive hypothesis. Hint to Problem 4: Part a To avoid large calculations, consider the base cases as proved. Note that 5 (x) is factor of (5 (x) xi )10 1 for 1 i 4. Let G(n) be g10n+6 (x) + 3(10n + 6)5 (x), show that [5 (x)]2 is factor of G(n + 2) 2G(n + 1) + G(n). Part b Solution 1 Use part (a) and the result from Problem 27 in [1]. Solution 2 From a known property of the cyclotomic polynomials, we have that 5 (x) is divisible by 5 or by numbers of the form 5M + 1 (see [2]). The proof follows immediately from this fact and part (a). Hint to Problem 5: Sn = Sn,a = (1)n +Vn (1, 1a), where Vn is the Lucas sequence with initial values V0 = 2 and V1 = 1 (see [7]). Note that for a = 2, Vn (1, 1 a) = Ln (the nth Lucas number) and for a = 3, Vn (1, 1 a) = jn (the nth Jacobsthal-Lucas number). Use the following identity V6(n+2)+4 = V6(n+1)+4 V6 (1 a)6 V6n+4 , which is a special case of identity (43) in [7]. Hint to Problem 6: Part a Show that for n 4, the expression has period 6 modulo 49. From formula Vajda-13 in [3], we have that F2n+3 = F2n L2n L2n+1 L2n+2 . From a well-known property of the Fibonacci numbers, we have that Fm is divisible by 7 if m is

divisible by 8. Additionally, prove that for n 4, 49 divides L2n 2 (see identity mentioned in Problem 2). Part b According to formula Vajda-15a in [3], F48n+16 +F48(n+2)+16 = F48(n+1)+16 L48 Hence: F48n+16 2F48(n+1)+16 + F48(n+2)+16 = F48(n+1)+16 (L48 2)
2 On another hand, L48 2 = 5F24 (Vajda-23) and F24 is divisible by 7. So F48n+16 2F48(n+1)+16 + F48(n+2)+16 is divisible by 49. Prove that the other expressions satisfy the same recurrence modulo 49 and complete the proof.

Hint to Problem 7: Part a Let = 1+2 5 . The right-hand side is equal to: 1 (2an+b (2a 1)d (1 )2an+b ((1 )2a 1)d ) 5 1 (2an+b (a (a (1 )a ))d (1 )2an+b ((1 )a ((1 )a a ))d ) 5 1 (a (1 )a )d (2an+b ad (1)d (1 )2an+b (1 )ad ) 5 To complete the proof, consider the cases when d is even and when d is odd. Part b See part (a). A slightly more special result can be found in [8]. Hint to Problem 8: 2 Let G(n, p) be (p 1)F ((p)n) nF (p2 1). Prove that: (p) G(n, p) n G(1, p) (mod p3 ) See Problem 7 and use the following facts: Let (m) be as dened in [5]. From the properties of (m) given in the reference just cited, we can deduce that if (p) is even, it implies that (p) = 2 4(p) or (p) = 2(p), which in turn implies that p divides F ( (p) ). If (p) is 2 2 odd, it implies that (p) = (p), which in turn implies that p does not divide F ( (p) ). But since p divides F ((p)) and F ((p)) = F ( (p) )L( (p) ), we have 2 2 2 that, for this case, p divides L( (p) ). 2

References
[1] http://www.math.cl/induction.pdf.

[2] Yimin Ge. Elementary properties of cyclotomic polynomials. Mathematical Reections, (2), 2008. Knott. Fibonacci and golden ratio formulae. [3] R. http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/bFormulae.html. [4] Philip L. Mana. Problem b-474. The Fibonacci Quarterly, 20(2):179, 1982. [5] M. Renault. Properties of the bonacci sequence under various moduli. http://www.math.temple.edu/~renault/bonacci/thesis.html. [6] S. Srinivasan. On innitude of primes. Hardy Ramanujan Journal, 7:2126, 1984. [7] E. W. Weisstein. Lucas sequence. MathWorld A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LucasSequence.html. [8] John Wessner. Binomial sums of bonacci powers. The Fibonacci Quarterly, 4(4):355358, 1966.