mathematics

Article
An Alternating Sum of Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers
of Order k
Spiros D. Dafnis 1, *, Andreas N. Philippou 2 and Ioannis E. Livieris 2
1 Department of Business Administration, University of the Aegean, GR 821-32 Chios, Greece
2 Department of Mathematics, University of Patras, GR 265-00 Patras, Greece;
anphilip@math.upatras.gr (A.N.P.); livieris@upatras.gr (I.E.L.)
* Correspondence: sdafnis@aegean.gr




Received: 30 July 2020; Accepted: 28 August 2020; Published: 3 September 2020


Abstract: During the last decade, many researchers have focused on proving identities that reveal
the relation between Fibonacci and Lucas numbers. Very recently, one of these identities has been
generalized to the case of Fibonacci and Lucas numbers of order k. In the present work, we state
and prove a new identity regarding an alternating sum of Fibonacci and Lucas numbers of order k.
Our result generalizes recent works in this direction.

Keywords: Fibonacci numbers; Lucas numbers; order k; relation

1. Introduction
Let m be a fixed positive integer greater than or equal to two, and let n be a nonnegative integer,
unless otherwise specified. Denote by Fn and Ln the Fibonacci and Lucas numbers, respectively,
i.e., F0 = 0, F1 = 1, Fn = Fn−1 + Fn−2 (n ≥ 2), and L0 = 2, L1 = 1, Ln = Ln−1 + Ln−2 (n ≥ 2).
Fibonacci numbers, Lucas numbers, and their generalizations appear in many areas of mathematics,
like graph theory [1], Optimization Theory [2], probability theory [3], and combinatorics [4]. They also
appear in computer science [5], mathematical biology [6], reliability [7], etc.
Among the various properties of the sequences, a class of special interest has to do with the
demonstration of identities that present the relation between the Fibonacci and the Lucas numbers.
Edgar [8] stated and proved the following identity:
n
∑ mi ( Li + (m − 2) Fi+1 ) = mn+1 Fn+1 . (1)
i =0

Special cases of (1), for m = 2 and m = 3, respectively, have been proven by Benjamin and
Quinn [4] and Marques [9].
Let k be a fixed positive integer greater than or equal to two. Dafnis, Philippou, and Livieris [10]
generalized (1) to the Fibonacci and Lucas numbers of order k (for the definitions of the Fibonacci and
Lucas numbers of order k, we refer to [3,11], respectively; see, also, [7,12,13]), deriving the following
identity by means of color tiling.

n  k

∑ mi + (m − 2) Fi+1 − ∑ ( j − 2) Fi− j+1
(k) (k) (k) (k)
Li = mn+1 Fn+1 + k − 2. (2)
i =0 j =3

A simple proof of (2) has been given by Philippou and Dafnis [14].
In the present note, we state and prove a new identity regarding an alternating sum of Fibonacci
and Lucas numbers of order k, analogous to (2). As a special case of this identity for k = 2, a new
identity follows that further reduces to a Fibonacci–Lucas relation derived recently by Martinjak [15].

Mathematics 2020, 8, 1487; doi:10.3390/math8091487 www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics

Mathematics 2020, 8, 1487 2 of 4

2. A New Identity
We presently state and prove the following:

(k) (k) (k)

Theorem 1. Let ( Fn )n≥0 be the sequence of Fibonacci numbers of order k, and set F−1 = · · · F−k+1 = 0,
(k) (k) (k) (k) (k)
i.e., Fn = 0 for −k + 1 ≤ n ≤ 0, F1 = 1, and Fn = ∑kj=1 Fn− j for n ≥ 2. Furthermore, let ( Ln )n≥0
(k) (k) (k) (k)
be the sequence of Lucas numbers or order k, i.e., L0 = k, L1 = 1, Ln = n + ∑nj=−11 Ln− j for 2 ≤ n ≤ k,
(k) (k)
and Ln = ∑kj=1 Ln− j for n ≥ k + 1. Then:
!
n k
∑ (−1) mn−i −∑
i (k) (k) (k) (k)
L i +1 + (m − 2) Fi jFi− j+2 = (−1)n Fn+1 . (3)
i =0 j =3

(k)
Proof. We employ the following relation (see Charalambides [11], (2.18), and our definition of Fn ):

min{n,k } k
∑ ∑ jFn− j+1 ,
(k) (k) (k)
Ln = jF n− j+1 = n ≥ 1,
j =1 j =1

which implies:
k k
∑ jFn− j+2 = Fn+1 + 2Fn + ∑ jF n− j+2 , n ≥ 0.
(k) (k) (k) (k) (k)
L n +1 =
j =1 j =3

Then,
!
n k
∑ (−1) m −∑
i n −i (k) (k) (k)
L i +1 + (m − 2) Fi jFi− j+2
i =0 j =3
n  
∑ (−1)i mn−i
(k) (k)
= mFi + Fi+1
i =0
     
(k) (k) (k) (k) (k) (k) (k)
= mn F1 − mn−1 mF1 + F2 + mn−2 mF2 + F3 − . . . + (−1)n mFn + Fn+1
(k)
= (−1)n Fn+1 ,

which is to be shown.

For k = 2, Identity (3) reduces to a new Fibonacci–Lucas relation, analogous to (1). We present it
in the following corollary.

Corollary 1. Let Fn be the Fibonacci numbers and Ln be the Lucas numbers. Then, for any m ≥ 2,
n
∑ (−1)i mn−i ( Li+1 + (m − 2) Fi ) = (−1)n Fn+1 . (4)
i =0

For m = 2, Corollary 1 further reduces to:

n
∑ (−1)i 2n−i Li+1 = (−1)n Fn+1 , (5)
i =0

which is Theorem 1 of Martinjak [15].

Next, in Corollary 2, we present a new relation between the Lucas numbers of order three (see [11])
and the tribonacci numbers (see [3,16,17]), as another special case of Theorem 1 for k = 3.
Mathematics 2020, 8, 1487 3 of 4

Corollary 2. Let ( Tn )n≥0 be the sequence of tribonacci numbers, i.e., T0 = 0, T1 = 1, T2 = 1, and Tn =

Tn−1 + Tn−2 + Tn−3 for n ≥ 3. Furthermore, let (Vn )n≥0 be the sequence of Lucas numbers of order three,
i.e., V0 = 3, V1 = 1, V2 = 3, and Vn = Vn−1 + Vn−2 + Vn−3 for n ≥ 3. Set T−1 = 0. Then:
n
∑ (−1)i mn−i (Vi+1 + (m − 2) Ti − 3Ti−1 ) = (−1)n Tn+1 . (6)
i =0

Finally, in Table 1, we give the first 10 terms of the Fibonacci (k = 2), tribonacci (k = 3), tetranacci or
quadranacci (k = 4), pentanacci or pentacci (k = 5), hexanacci or esanacci (k = 6), heptanacci (k = 7),
and octanacci (k = 8) numbers. In Table 2, we give the first 10 terms of the Lucas numbers of order k
for k = 2, 3, . . . , 8. Each table is completed with the last column containing the A-number, according to
the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS) [18], for each sequence.

Table 1. Fibonacci sequences of order k.

k n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A-Number
2 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 A000045
3 1 1 2 4 7 13 24 44 81 149 A000073
4 1 1 2 4 8 15 29 56 108 208 A000078
5 1 1 2 4 8 16 31 61 120 236 A001591
6 1 1 2 4 8 16 32 63 125 248 A001592
7 1 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 127 253 A066178
8 1 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 255 A079262

Table 2. Lucas sequences of order k.

k n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A-Number
2 1 3 4 7 11 18 29 47 76 A000032
3 1 3 7 11 21 39 71 131 241 A001644
4 1 3 7 15 26 51 99 191 367 A073817
5 1 3 7 15 31 57 113 223 439 A074048
6 1 3 7 15 31 63 120 239 475 A074584
7 1 3 7 15 31 63 127 247 493 A104621
8 1 3 7 15 31 63 127 255 502 A105754

Tables 1 and 2 may provide illustrations of (3), (4) and (6) for small values of n. We shall presently
give three examples. Fixing k = 4, n = 6 and exploiting the appropriate entries of the third row of
(4)
each table, we may easily calculate the LHS of (3) to be equal to −29, as was expected, since F7 = 29.
Fixing k = 2, n = 7 and exploiting the appropriate entries of the first row of each table, we may easily
calculate the LHS of (4) to be equal to −21, as was expected, since F8 = 21. Finally, fixing k = 3, n = 5
and exploiting the appropriate entries of the second row of each table, we may easily calculate the
LHS of (6) to be equal to −13, as was expected, since T6 = 13.

3. Discussion and Conclusions

In the present work, we explore the relation between Fibonacci and Lucas numbers of order k.
We establish a new identity, which generalizes or extends results appearing in the literature during
the last decade. The proof of our new result is simple, since our aim is to further reveal the
aforementioned relation. Regarding future research, the new identity may be proven employing
different techniques, such as combinatorial methods or methods based on the generating functions of
the numbers. It is the authors’ strong belief that the new identity may prove quite profitable to applied
research, since Fibonacci and Lucas numbers are met in a wide range of applications in various fields.

Author Contributions: Supervision, A.N.P. and I.E.L.; Writing-review & editing, S.D.D. All authors have read
and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Mathematics 2020, 8, 1487 4 of 4

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank the referees for the thorough reading, useful comments, and
suggestions, which helped to improve the presentation of the article.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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