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A006356 a(n) = 2*a(n-1) + a(n-2) - a(n-3) for n >= 3, starting with a(0) = 1, a(1) = 3, and a(2) = 6.

Original entry on oeis.org

1, 3, 6, 14, 31, 70, 157, 353, 793, 1782, 4004, 8997, 20216, 45425, 102069, 229347, 515338, 1157954, 2601899, 5846414, 13136773, 29518061, 66326481, 149034250, 334876920, 752461609, 1690765888, 3799116465, 8536537209, 19181424995
Offset: 0

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Author

N. J. A. Sloane

Keywords

Comments

Number of distributive lattices; also number of paths with n turns when light is reflected from 3 glass plates.
Let u(k), v(k), w(k) be defined by u(1) = 1, v(1) = 0, w(1) = 0 and u(k+1) = u(k) + v(k) + w(k), v(k+1) = u(k) + v(k), w(k+1) = u(k); then {u(n)} = 1, 1, 3, 6, 14, 31, ... (this sequence with an extra initial 1), {v(n)} = 0, 1, 2, 5, 11, 25, ... (A006054 with its initial 0 deleted) and {w(n)} = {u(n)} prefixed by an extra 0 = A077998 with an extra initial 0. - Benoit Cloitre, Apr 05 2002
Also u(k)^2 + v(k)^2 + w(k)^2 = u(2*k). - Gary W. Adamson, Dec 23 2003
The n-th term of the series is the number of paths for a ray of light that enters two layers of glass and then is reflected exactly n times before leaving the layers of glass.
One such path (with 2 plates of glass and 3 reflections) might be:
...\........./..................
--------------------------------
....\/\..../....................
--------------------------------
........\/......................
--------------------------------
For a k-glass sequence, say a(n,k), a(n,k) is always asymptotic to z(k)*w(k)^n where w(k) = (1/2)/cos(k*Pi/(2*k+1)) and it is conjectured that z(k) is the root 1 < x < 2 of a polynomial of degree Phi(2k+1)/2.
Number of ternary sequences of length n-1 such that every pair of consecutive digits has a sum less than 3. That is to say, the pairs (1,2), (2,1) and (2,2) do not appear. - George J. Schaeffer (gschaeff(AT)andrew.cmu.edu), Sep 07 2004
Number of weakly up-down sequences of length n using the digits {1,2,3}. When n=2 the sequences are 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 33.
Form the graph with matrix A = [1, 1, 1; 1, 0, 0; 1, 0, 1]. Then A006356 counts walks of length n that start at the degree 4 vertex. - Paul Barry, Oct 02 2004
In general, the g.f. for p glass plates is: A(x) = F_{p-1}(-x)/F_p(x) where F_p(x) = Sum_{k=0..p} (-1)^[(k+1)/2]*C([(p+k)/2],k)*x^k. - Paul D. Hanna, Feb 06 2006
Equals the INVERT transform of (1, 2, 1, 1, 1, ...) equivalent to a(n) = a(n-1) + 2*a(n-2) + a(n-3) + a(n-4) + ... + 1. a(6) = 70 = (31 + 2*14 + 6 + 3 + 1 + 1). - Gary W. Adamson, Apr 27 2009
a(n) = the number of terms in the n-th iterate of sequence A179542 generated from the rules a(0) = 1, then (1->1,2,3), (2->1,2), (3->1).
Example: 3rd iterate = (1,2,3,1,2,1,1,2,3,1,2,1,2,3) = 14 terms composed of a frequency of (6, 5, 3): (1's, 2's, and 3's), where a(3) = 14, and the [6, 5, 3] = top row and left column of the 3rd power of M, the matrix generator [1,1,1; 1,1,0; 1,0,0] or a(2) = 6, A006054(4) = 5, and a(1) = 3.
Given the heptagon diagonal lengths with edge = 1: (a = 1, b = 1.80193773..., c = 2.24697...) = (1, 2*cos(Pi/7), (1 + 2*cos(2*Pi/7))), and using the diagonal product formulas in [Steinbach], we obtain: c^n = c*a(n-2) + b*A006054(n) + a(n-3) corresponding to the top row of M^(n-1), in the case M^3 = [6, 5, 3]. Example: c^4 = 25.491566... = 6*c + 5*b + 3 = 13.481... + 9.00968... + 3. - Gary W. Adamson, Jul 18 2010
Equals row sums of triangle A180262. - Gary W. Adamson, Aug 21 2010
The number of the one-sided n-step prudent walks, avoiding 2 or more consecutive east steps. - Shanzhen Gao, Apr 27 2011
a(n) = [A_{7,2}^(n+2)](1,1), where A{7,2} is the 3 X 3 unit-primitive matrix (see [Jeffery]) A_{7,2} = [0,0,1; 0,1,1; 1,1,1]. The denominator of the generating function for this sequence is also the characteristic polynomial of A_{7,2}. - L. Edson Jeffery, Dec 06 2011 [See the comments for sequence A306334. - Petros Hadjicostas, Nov 17 2019]
a(n) is the top left entry of the n-th power of the 3 X 3 matrix [1, 1, 1; 1, 0, 0; 1, 0, 1] or of the 3 X 3 matrix [1, 1, 1; 1, 1, 0; 1, 0, 0]. - R. J. Mathar, Feb 03 2014
Successive sequences in this set (A006356, A006357, A006358, etc.) can be generated as follows: Begin with (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ...); and perform an operation with three steps to get the next sequence in the series. First, put alternate signs in the current series: With (1, 1, 1, ...) this equals (1, -1, 1, -1, ...); then take the inverse, getting (1, 1, 0, 0, 0, ...). Take the INVERT transform of the last step, getting (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ...). Repeat the three steps using (1, 2, 3, 5, ...) --> (1, -2, 3, -5) --> (1, 2, 1, 1, 1, ...) --> (1, 3, 6, 14, 31, ...). Repeat the three steps using (1, 3, 6, 14, 31, ...), getting (1, 4, 10, 30, 85, ...) = A006357; and so on. - Gary W. Adamson, Aug 08 2019
Let W_n be the fence poset (a.k.a. zig-zag poset) of size n. Let [2] be a chain of size 2. Then a(n) is the number of antichains in the product poset W_n X [2]. See Berman- Koehler link. - Geoffrey Critzer, Jun 13 2023
a(n) is the number of double-dimer covers of the 2 X (n+1) square grid graph. See Musiker et al. link. - Nicholas Ovenhouse, Jan 07 2024
In general, the number of weakly up-down words of length n over an alphabet of size k is given by 4/(2*k+1)*|Sum_{j = 1..k} sin^2(2*j*Pi/(2*k+1))/(2*cos^2(2*j*Pi/(2*k+1)))^(n+1)| and the corresponding g. f. is given by V_(k-1)(-x/2)/W_k(x/2) if k is even and -W_(k-1)(-x/2) / V_k(x/2) if k is odd, where V_m(x) and W_m(x) are the Chebyshev polynomials of the third and fourth kind, respectively (see Paul D. Hanna's comment above and the Fried link). - Sela Fried, Apr 01 2025

References

  • J. Berman and P. Koehler, Cardinalities of finite distributive lattices, Mitteilungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar Giessen, 121 (1976), 103-124.
  • S. J. Cyvin and I. Gutman, Kekulé structures in benzenoid hydrocarbons, Lecture Notes in Chemistry, No. 46, Springer, New York, 1988 (see p. 120).
  • R. L. Graham, D. E. Knuth and O. Patashnik, Concrete Mathematics. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 2nd edition, p. 291 (very briefly without generalizations).
  • J. Haubrich, Multinacci Rijen [Multinacci sequences], Euclides (Netherlands), Vol. 74, Issue 4, 1998, pp. 131-133.
  • Jay Kappraff, Beyond Measure, A Guided Tour Through Nature, Myth and Number, World Scientific, 2002.
  • N. J. A. Sloane and Simon Plouffe, The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1995 (includes this sequence).

Links

Crossrefs

Cf. A000217, A000330, A050446, A050447, A006054, A077998, A052534, A052994, A052949.
See also A006357-A006359, A025030, A030112-A030116.
Cf. A038196 (3-wave sequence).
Cf. A179542. - Gary W. Adamson, Jul 18 2010
Cf. A180262. - Gary W. Adamson, Aug 21 2010
Cf. A033303, A190360, A306334.

Programs

  • Haskell
    a006056 n = a006056_list !! n
a006056_list = 1 : 3 : 6 : zipWith (+) (map (2 *) $ drop 2 a006056_list)
   (zipWith (-) (tail a006056_list) a006056_list)
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 14 2011
  • Magma
    [ n eq 1 select 1 else n eq 2 select 3 else n eq 3 select 6 else 2*Self(n-1)+Self(n-2)- Self(n-3): n in [1..40] ] ; // Vincenzo Librandi, Aug 20 2011
  • Maple
    A006356:=-(-1-z+z**2)/(1-2*z-z**2+z**3); # conjectured by Simon Plouffe in his 1992 dissertation
  • Mathematica
    LinearRecurrence[{2,1,-1},{1,3,6},30] (* or *) CoefficientList[ Series[ (1+x-x^2)/(1-2x-x^2+x^3),{x,0,30}],x] (* Harvey P. Dale, Jul 06 2011 *)
Table[If[n==0, a2=0; a1=1; a0=1, a3=a2; a2=a1; a1=a0; a0=2*a1+a2-a3], {n, 0, 29}] (* Jean-François Alcover, Apr 30 2013 *)
  • Maxima
    a(n):=sum(sum((sum(binomial(j,-3*k+2*j+i)*(-1)^(j-k)*binomial(k,j),j,0,k))*binomial(n+k-i-1,k-1),i,k,n),k,1,n); /* Vladimir Kruchinin, May 05 2011 */
  • PARI
    {a(n)=local(p=3);polcoeff(sum(k=0,p-1,(-1)^((k+1)\2)*binomial((p+k-1)\2,k)* (-x)^k)/sum(k=0,p,(-1)^((k+1)\2)*binomial((p+k)\2,k)*x^k+x*O(x^n)),n)} \\ Paul D. Hanna, Feb 06 2006
  • PARI
    Vec((1+x-x^2)/(1-2*x-x^2+x^3)+O(x^66)) \\ Joerg Arndt, Apr 30 2013
  • Python
    from math import comb
def A006356(n): return sum(comb(j,a)*comb(k,j)*comb(n+k-i,k-1)*(-1 if j-k&1 else 1) for k in range(1,n+2) for i in range(k,n+2) for j in range(k+1) if (a:=-3*k+2*j+i)>=0) # Chai Wah Wu, Feb 19 2024

Formula

a(n) is asymptotic to z(3)*w(3)^n where w(3) = (1/2)/cos(3*Pi/7) and z(3) is the root 1 < X < 2 of P(3, X) = 1 - 14*X - 49*X^2 + 49*X^3. w(3) = 2.2469796.... z(3) = 1.220410935...
G.f.: (1 + x - x^2)/(1 - 2*x - x^2 + x^3). - Paul D. Hanna, Feb 06 2006
a(n) = a(n-1) + a(n-2) + A006054(n+1). - Gary W. Adamson, Jun 05 2008
a(n) = A006054(n+2) + A006054(n+1) - A006054(n). - R. J. Mathar, Apr 07 2011
a(n-1) = Sum_{k = 1..n} Sum_{i = k..n} Sum_{j = 0..k} binomial(j, -3*k+2*j+i) * (-1)^(j-k) * binomial(k, j) * binomial(n+k-i-1, k-1). - Vladimir Kruchinin, May 05 2011
Sum_{k=0..n} a(k) = a(n+1) - a(n-1) - 1. - Greg Dresden and Mina BH Arsanious, Aug 23 2023

Extensions

Recurrence, alternative description from Jacques Haubrich (jhaubrich(AT)freeler.nl)
Alternative definition added by Andrew Niedermaier, Nov 11 2008

Started in 1964 by Neil J. A. Sloane | Maintained by The OEIS Foundation Inc.

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