Sep 29, 2021 at 5:50pm UTC
Would somebody mind explaining what this sequence means?
https://oeis.org/A277306
I've been staring at it for a few minutes, and can't figure out what it's saying.
"G.f. [general formula?] satisfies: A(x + A(x)^2) = x + 2*A(x)^2."
The offset is 1, meaning A(1) = 1, A(2) = 1, A(3) = 0, ... (based on my understanding of the wiki,
http://oeis.org/wiki/OEIS_FAQ )
Let's say x = 1, plugging in you get:
A(1 + A(1)^2) = 1 + 2*A(1)^2
A(1 + 1) = 1 + 2*1
A(2) = 3
1 = 3
So clearly I am interpreting this sequence wrong. I have found nothing on the OEIS FAQ on sequences like these, so I really don't know what to make of it.
Any help? It's probably something simple/obvious.
Last edited on Sep 29, 2021 at 6:00pm UTC
Sep 29, 2021 at 6:16pm UTC
Like you, I assumed A(1)=1 and got, by formula, A(2)=3 ... which is not what is given.
I thought "G.f" was generating function, but it doesn't really matter.
The graph of the function grows incredibly quickly.
Sep 29, 2021 at 6:22pm UTC
G.f. being generating function makes a lot more sense than general formula. I'll revisit the sequence with that in mind.
Sep 29, 2021 at 6:39pm UTC
It goes with "generating function" I think because if you look at the power series under "Example" then the so-called "series" are the coefficients of x, x^2, x^3, x^4 etc.
Thus, you have to insert a general power series into the formula and equate coefficients of each power of x.
Looks a nightmare to code up (not least because some of those integer coefficients are huge).
Sep 29, 2021 at 6:54pm UTC
Thanks for the help, I crunched some of the lower powers to confirm it works once it's understood to be the generating function coefficients.
A(x) = x + x^2 - 4*x^4 + 2*x^5 + 52*x^6 + ...
A(x + A(x)^2) = A(x + (x + x^2 - 4*x^4 + 2*x^5 + 52*x^6+ ...)^2)
= A(x + x^2 + 2x^3 + x^4 - 8x^5 - 4x^6 + 108x^7 + 120x^8 - 16x^9 - 412x^10 + ...)
= (x + x^2 + 2x^3 + x^4 - 8x^5 - 4x^6 + 108x^7 + 120x^8 - 16x^9 - 412x^10 + ...)
+ (x + x^2 + 2x^3 + x^4 - 8x^5 - 4x^6 + 108x^7 + 120x^8 - 16x^9 - 412x^10 + ...)^2
- 4(x + x^2 + ...)^4
= (x + x^2 + 2x^3 + x^4 - 8x^5 - 4x^6 + 108x^7 + 120x^8 - 16x^9 - 412x^10 )
+ x^2 + 2x^3 + 5x^4 + 6x^5 + ...
+ - 4x^4 + ...
= x + 2x^2 + 4x^3 + 2x^4 + ...
x + 2*A(x)^2 = x + 2*(x + x^2 - 4*x^4 + 2*x^5 + 52*x^6+ ...)^2
= x + 2x^2 + 4x^3 + 2x^4 + ...
Last edited on Sep 29, 2021 at 7:35pm UTC