Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 ia Paper 4 7C i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write . For , the recurrence and the previously proved greatest common divisor invariance giveRepeating reaches . This also gives the case directly. Applying the same invariance once more,Thus both requested greatest common divisors equal one for every . This is the adjacent-index instance of Fibonacci gcd reduction, derived directly rather than assuming the stronger general formula.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 4 8E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The Euclidean algorithm and the Fibonacci number recurrence giveIterating reaches , so consecutive Fibonacci numbers are coprime.
Prove the Fibonacci addition formula by mathematical induction on , asserting it simultaneously for every . At , . Suppose the formula holds at . Apply it with in place of and use the recurrence:ThusFor , prove by induction on . The case is immediate. For , put in the addition formula. Its first term is divisible by by the induction hypothesis, and its second term has an explicit factor . ThereforeWhen , put . Reducing the addition formula modulo gives . Since is coprime to , multiplication by it leaves the greatest common divisor with unchanged: any divisor of dividing the product divides , by the Bezout identity or the Euclid lemma. This proves the Fibonacci gcd reductionAt both sides equal , since . The case is also immediate from ; the divisibility statement at reads , valid under the usual definition iff for an integer .