Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-year-1-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2014/discrete-mathematics-continuous-mathematics-and-probability/3/e/i/solution
Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford 2014 Discrete mathematics, continuous mathematics and probability 3 e i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
The printed fractional arguments require a size convention. To make the recurrence relation precise on positive integers, take a bounded base case and use , for . This integer rounding in a divide-and-conquer recurrence gives . The unrounded calculation is the special split fraction .
Prove by strong induction. Put , choose , and choose . The base case follows. The entropy potential for a divide-and-conquer recurrence givesThe last step uses . This closes the inductive hypothesis and proves in Big O notation.
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