Sequences & Summations: CS 1050 Rosen 3.2
Sequences & Summations: CS 1050 Rosen 3.2
Sequences & Summations: CS 1050 Rosen 3.2
CS 1050
Rosen 3.2
Sequence
• A sequence is a discrete structure used to represent
an ordered list.
• A sequence is a function from a subset of the set
of integers (usually either the set {0,1,2,. . .} or
{1,2, 3,. . .}to a set S.
• We use the notation an to denote the image of the
integer n. We call an a term of the sequence.
• Notation to represent sequence is {an}
Examples
• {1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, . . .} or the sequence {an}
where an = 1/n, nZ+ .
j ( j 1) 1 2 3 4 5 15
j 1 j 0
1
j 1
j 11 2 1 3 1 4 1 5
5
1 1 j 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5
j2
Summations follow all the rules
of multiplication and addition!
n n
c j cj c(1+2+…+n) = c + 2c +…+ nc
j 1 j 1
n n n1
r ar ar
j j 1
ar k
j 0 j 0 k 1
n n
ar n1
ar ar k n1
a ar k
k 1 k0
Telescoping Sums
n
(a
j 1
j a j 1 ) (a1 a0 ) (a2 a1 )
[k 2
(k 1)2
]
k 1
(1 0 ) (2 1 ) (3 2 ) (4 3 )
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
4 2 16 0 16
Closed Form Solutions
A simple formula that can be used to calculate a sum without
doing all the additions.
Example:
n
n(n 1)
k 1
k
2
Proof: First we note that k2 - (k-1)2 = k2 - (k2-2k+1) = 2k-1.
Since k2-(k-1)2 = 2k-1, then we can sum each side from k=1 to
k=n n n
k 1 k 1
Proof (cont.)
n n
k 1 k 1
n n n
[k k 1 ] 2k 1
2 2
k 1 k 1 k 1
n
n 0 2 (k ) n
2 2
k 1
n
n 2 n 2 (k)
k 1
n
n2 n
k 1
k
2
Closed Form Solutions to Sums
n
j 2
j 0
02
12
... n 2
n(n 1)(2n 1)/ 6
n
n n 1
2 2
k 1
k 3
4
n
ar n1
a
k 0
ar
k
r 1
,r 1
Double Summations
4 3 4 3 4 4
i 1 j 1
ij ij i 2i 3i 6i
i 1 j 1 i 1 i1
6 12 18 24 60
Cardinality
• Earlier we defined cardinality of a set as the
number of elements in the set. We can extend this
idea to infinite sets.
• The sets A and B have the same cardinality if and
only if there is a one-to-one correspondence from
A to B.
• A set that is either finite or has the same
cardinality as the set of natural numbers is called
countable. A set that is not countable is called
uncountable.
Cardinality
• Cardinality of set of natural numbers?
• An infinite set is countable if and only if it is
possible to list the elements in a sequence
(indexed by the positive integers).
– Why? A one-to-one correspondence f can be expressed
in terms of the sequence a1, a2, a3…., where a1 = f(1),
a2 =f(2), etc.
– One-to-one correspondence for set of odd positive
integers (in terms of positive integers)?
f(n) = 2n - 1