58 Chapter 4

380 Problem Shew that Hint: From

π π
tan 100 + 2 tan 99 tan x − tan y
2 2
π π tan x − tan y =
+22 tan 98 + · · · + 298 tan 2 1 + tanx tan y
22 2
π
= cot 100 .
2
deduce that
381 Problem Shew that
X
n
n2 + n
a−b
k
=
1
· . arctan a − arctanb = arctan
k4 + k2 + 1 2 n2 + n + 1 1 + ab
k=1

382 Problem Evaluate for suitable a and b.

€ 1 · 2 · 4 + 2 · 4 · 8 + 3 · 6 · 12 + · · ·
Š1/3
.
1 · 3 · 9 + 2 · 6 · 18 + 3 · 9 · 27 + · · · 384 Problem Prove the following result due to Gramm

383 Problem Shew that

Y
∞
X
∞
1 π
n3 − 1
=
2
.
arctan = . n3 + 1 3
1 + n + n2 4 n=2
n=1

4.5 First Order Recursions

We have already seen the Fibonacci numbers, defined by the recursion f0 = 0, f1 = 1 and

fn+1 = fn + fn−1 , n ≥ 1.

The order of the recurrence is the difference between the highest and the lowest subscripts. For example

un+2 − un+1 = 2

is of the first order, and

un+4 + 9u2n = n5
is of the fourth order.
A recurrence is linear if the subscripted letters appear only to the first power. For example

un+2 − un+1 = 2
is a linear recurrence and
x2n + nxn−1 = 1 and xn + 2xn−1 = 3
are not linear recurrences.
A recursion is homogeneous if all its terms contain the subscripted variable to the same power. Thus

xm+3 + 8xm+2 − 9xm = 0

is homogeneous. The equation

xm+3 + 8xm+2 − 9xm = m2 − 3
is not homogeneous.
A closed form of a recurrence is a formula that permits us to find the n-th term of the recurrence without having to know a
priori the terms preceding it.
We outline a method for solving first order linear recurrence relations of the form

xn = axn−1 + f (n), a 6= 1,

where f is a polynomial.