Posts tagged continuant

The Stern-Brocot Tree of Fractions

Consider two fractions \frac{m_1}{n_1} and \frac{m_2}{n_2} with positive numerators and denominators. The fraction \frac{m_1+m_2}{n_1+n_2} is called the mediant of \frac{m_1}{n_1} and \frac{m_2}{n_2}. It is straightforward to show that the mediant is placed numerically between the original fractions,

\frac{m_1}{n_1} < \frac{m_2}{n_2} \quad \Rightarrow \quad \frac{m_1}{n_1} < \frac{m_1+m_2}{n_1+n_2} < \frac{m_2}{n_2}.

Consider now the following simple procedure [...]

Continued Fractions and Continuants

We will be considering continued fractions of the form

a_0 + \displaystyle\frac{1}{a_1 + \displaystyle\frac{1}{\ddots + \displaystyle\frac{1}{a_{n-1} + \displaystyle\frac{1}{a_n}}}}

where the a_k‘s are real numbers called the partial quotients [...]