For a simple continued fraction, defineMultiplying the matrices givesTheir determinants also give . If the infinite tail is , the same formula impliesThe denominators of these continued fraction convergents tend to infinity, since . Hence they converge to .
The square-root algorithm for the periodic continued fraction of a quadratic irrational, using , and , givesThe first four continued fraction convergents are . Direct substitution gives positive solutions to the requested Pell-type equations:
Articles by others on the same topic
There are currently no matching articles.