I am not understanding how to go from the beginning of a recurrence relation to the end. I do not understand how to get to the characteristic equation. I can factor it if I know where it comes from.
Thank you.
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1IMHO, it will be way too long to properly cover the recurrence relation/characteristic equation here. You should learn this from a book or lecture or watch this video as a start. – achille hui Nov 04 '13 at 01:54
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I'll try the video. I am trying with my book but just not quite getting it. Thank you! – Kathleen Nov 04 '13 at 01:56
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See the detailed answer. – Mhenni Benghorbal Nov 04 '13 at 02:01
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There are plenty of examples of recurrences here, look at the techniques used. The "characteristic equation" method works, but there are less error-prone techniques available. – vonbrand Mar 24 '14 at 14:52
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I got it from the video! to get the characteristic equation you use an=x^2 term an-1=x term and the an-2= constant term. Then you can factor for the roots.
Kathleen
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Look here: http://www.math.upenn.edu/~wilf/DownldGF.html
The downloadable book at this site, Generatingfunctionology, will tell you more than you need to know.
marty cohen
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It’s a lovely book, but it’s unlikely to be helpful to the OP, especially if she’s had some trouble following the topic in one of the usual undergraduate discrete math texts: it’s simply written at much too high a level of sophistication. – Brian M. Scott Nov 04 '13 at 04:48