Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Mathematical induction
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==== Example: Fibonacci numbers ==== Complete induction is most useful when several instances of the inductive hypothesis are required for each induction step. For example, complete induction can be used to show that <math display="block"> F_n = \frac{\varphi^n - \psi^n}{\varphi - \psi}</math> where <math>F_n</math> is the {{mvar|n}}-th [[Fibonacci number]], and <math display="inline">\varphi = \frac{1}{2}(1 + \sqrt 5)</math> (the [[golden ratio]]) and <math display="inline">\psi = \frac{1}{2} (1 - \sqrt 5)</math> are the [[root of a polynomial|roots]] of the [[polynomial]] <math>x^2-x-1</math>. By using the fact that <math>F_{n+2} = F_{n+1} + F_{n}</math> for each <math>n \in \mathbb{N}</math>, the identity above can be verified by direct calculation for <math display="inline">F_{n+2}</math> if one assumes that it already holds for both <math display="inline">F_{n+1}</math> and <math display="inline">F_n</math>. To complete the proof, the identity must be verified in the two base cases: <math>n = 0</math> and <math display="inline">n = 1</math>.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)