Floor function ($\lfloor x\rfloor$)

The floor $\lfloor x\rfloor$ is the greatest integer not exceeding the real number $x$. Equivalently, $\lfloor x\rfloor =m$ exactly when $m\le x<m+1$, for an integer $m$. The floor function is constant on each such half-open interval and has a discontinuity of a function at each integer.

For nonnegative integers $N$ and positive integers $k$, $\lfloor N/k\rfloor$ is the number of complete groups of size $k$ that fit into $N$ items. With $N=102$ and $k=20$, five complete groups use 100 items. Euclidean division writes $102=20\cdot 5+2$, retaining the two-item remainder rather than treating the quotient $102/20=5.1$ as a number of complete groups.

For a positive integer $n$, indices with the same quotient $q=\lfloor n/i\rfloor$ form intervals. If an interval begins at $l$, it ends at $r=\lfloor n/q\rfloor$. There are $O(\sqrt{n})$ distinct quotients: either $i\le \sqrt{n}$, or the quotient is below $\sqrt{n}$. This permits summing constant-quotient blocks instead of visiting every index.

The operation returning $\lfloor a/b\rfloor$ for $b\ne 0$. It rounds the exact quotient toward negative infinity; for nonnegative integers and positive $b$, it is the quotient in Euclidean division.

An algorithm for evaluating sums that depend on $\lfloor N/i\rfloor$. If $q=\lfloor N/l\rfloor$, then all indices from $l$ through $r=\lfloor N/q\rfloor$ have quotient $q$. Jumping to $r+1$ visits only $O(\sqrt{N})$ blocks rather than all $N$ indices.

A floor sum adds values of a floor function, often in the form $F(n,a,b,m)={\sum }_{i=0}^{n-1}\lfloor (ai+b)/m\rfloor$ for integers $n\ge 0$, $m>0$, $a$, and $b$. If $a,b\ge 0$, it counts lattice points $(i,j)$ with $0\le i<n$ and $1\le j\le (ai+b)/m$. Splitting $a$ and $b$ into quotients and remainders isolates an arithmetic progression and a constant contribution; swapping the remaining counting axes leads to an Euclidean algorithm reduction.

For an arithmetic function $a$, changing the order of the finite summation gives ${\sum }_{d=1}^{n}a(d)\lfloor n/d\rfloor ={\sum }_{t=1}^n{\sum }_{d\le \lfloor n/t\rfloor }a(d)$. Both sides count pairs of positive integers $(d,t)$ with $dt\le n$, assigning weight $a(d)$ to each pair. This expresses a weighted floor sum in terms of a summatory function.

The fractional part of a real number isIt is the amount left after removing the lower enclosing integer, even for negative inputs. Thus $\{-2.7\}=-2.7-(-3)=0.3$. It is not the signed string of digits obtained by truncation toward zero.

Translation by an integer leaves the fractional part unchanged: $\{x+m\}=\{x\}$. It is therefore a periodic function with period one, increasing from zero toward one on each unit interval, then returning to zero at the next integer. In Euclidean division $N=kq+r$ with $0\le r<k$, $\{N/k\}=r/k$; for $102/20$, this is $2/20=0.1$.

The notation is useful for following repeated motion modulo an integer. In normality and equidistribution under integer multiplication, the values $\{K^{n}x\}$ shift the digits of a positional notation; the fractional part discards the leading integer portion without losing the remaining digits. Its braces must be distinguished by context from the braces denoting a set.