Continued Fraction - Wikipedia

6/16/2017 Continued fraction - Wikipedia
Continued fraction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In mathematics, a continued fraction is an expression obtained through an

iterative process of representing a number as the sum of its integer part and the
reciprocal of another number, then writing this other number as the sum of its
integer part and another reciprocal, and so on.[1] In a finite continued fraction
(or terminated continued fraction), the iteration/recursion is terminated after
finitely many steps by using an integer in lieu of another continued fraction. In
contrast, an infinite continued fraction is an infinite expression. In either case,
all integers in the sequence, other than the first, must be positive. The integers A finite continued fraction, where
are called the coefficients or terms of the continued fraction.[2] is a non-negative integer, is an
integer, and is a positive integer,
Continued fractions have a number of remarkable properties related to the for .
Euclidean algorithm for integers or real numbers. Every rational number has
two closely related expressions as a finite continued fraction, whose coefficients ai can be determined by applying the
Euclidean algorithm to . The numerical value of an infinite continued fraction is irrational; it is defined from its
infinite sequence of integers as the limit of a sequence of values for finite continued fractions. Each finite continued
fraction of the sequence is obtained by using a finite prefix of the infinite continued fraction's defining sequence of
integers. Moreover, every irrational number is the value of a unique infinite continued fraction, whose coefficients
can be found using the non-terminating version of the Euclidean algorithm applied to the incommensurable values
and 1. This way of expressing real numbers (rational and irrational) is called their continued fraction representation.
It is generally assumed that the numerator of all of the fractions is 1. If arbitrary values and/or functions are used in
place of one or more of the numerators or the integers in the denominators, the resulting expression is a generalized
continued fraction. When it is necessary to distinguish the first form from generalized continued fractions, the former
may be called a simple or regular continued fraction, or said to be in canonical form.
The term continued fraction may also refer to representations of rational functions, arising in their analytic theory. For
this use of the term, see Padé approximation and Chebyshev rational functions.
Contents
1 Motivation and notation
2 Basic formula
3 Calculating continued fraction representations
4 Notations for continued fractions
5 Finite continued fractions
6 Continued fractions of reciprocals
7 Infinite continued fractions and convergents
7.1 Properties
7.2 Some useful theorems
8 Semiconvergents
9 Best rational approximations
9.1 Best rational within an interval
9.2 Interval for a convergent
10 Comparison of continued fractions
11 Continued fraction expansions of π
12 Generalized continued fraction
13 Other continued fraction expansions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continued_fraction 1/20
13.1 Periodic continued fractions

13.2 A property of the golden ratio φ
13.3 Regular patterns in continued fractions
13.4 Typical continued fractions
14 Applications
14.1 Square roots
14.2 Pell's equation
14.3 Dynamical systems
14.4 Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
15 Examples of rational and irrational numbers
16 History of continued fractions
17 See also
18 Notes
19 References
20 External links
Motivation and notation

Consider a typical rational number 415 93
, which is around 4.4624. As a first approximation, start with 4, which is the
415 43
integer part; 93 = 4 + 93 . Note that the fractional part is the reciprocal of 93 43
which is about 2.1628. Use the integer
1 93 7
part, 2, as an approximation for the reciprocal to get a second approximation of 4 + 2 = 4.5; 43 = 2 + 43 . The
7
remaining fractional part, 43 , is the reciprocal of 43 7
, and 43
7
is around 6.1429. Use 6 as an approximation for this to get
1
2 + 16 as an approximation for 93 43
and 4 + 43 1
2 + 16 , about 4.4615, as the third approximation; 7 = 6 + 7 . Finally, the
7 0
fractional part, 17 , is the reciprocal of 7, so its approximation in this scheme, 7, is exact ( 1 = 7 + 1 ) and produces the
1
exact expression 4 + 2 + 1 1 for 415 93
.
6+ 7
1
The expression 4 + 2 + 1 1 is called the continued fraction representation of 415
93
. This can be represented by the
6+ 7
abbreviated notation 415
93
= [4; 2, 6, 7]. (Note that it is customary to replace only the first comma by a semicolon.)
Some older textbooks use all commas in the (n + 1)-tuple, e.g., [4, 2, 6, 7].[3][4]
If the starting number is rational, then this process exactly parallels the Euclidean algorithm. In particular, it must
terminate and produce a finite continued fraction representation of the number. If the starting number is irrational, then
the process continues indefinitely. This produces a sequence of approximations, all of which are rational numbers, and
these converge to the starting number as a limit. This is the (infinite) continued fraction representation of the number.
Examples of continued fraction representations of irrational numbers are:
√19 = [4;2,1,3,1,2,8,2,1,3,1,2,8,…] (sequence A010124 in the OEIS). The pattern repeats indefinitely
with a period of 6.
e = [2;1,2,1,1,4,1,1,6,1,1,8,…] (sequence A003417 in the OEIS). The pattern repeats indefinitely with a
period of 3 except that 2 is added to one of the terms in each cycle.
π = [3;7,15,1,292,1,1,1,2,1,3,1,…] (sequence A001203 in the OEIS). The terms in this representation are
apparently random.
ϕ = [1;1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,…] (sequence A000012 in the OEIS). The golden ratio, the most difficult
irrational number to approximate rationally. See: A property of the golden ratio φ.
Continued fractions are, in some ways, more "mathematically natural" representations of a real number than other
representations such as decimal representations, and they have several desirable properties:
The continued fraction representation for a rational number is finite and only rational numbers have finite
representations. In contrast, the decimal representation of a rational number may be finite, for example
137 4
1600 = 0.085625, or infinite with a repeating cycle, for example 27 = 0.148148148148….
Every rational number has an essentially unique continued fraction representation. Each rational can be
represented in exactly two ways, since [a0;a1,… an−1,an] = [a0;a1,… an−1,(an−1),1]. Usually the first,
shorter one is chosen as the canonical representation.
The continued fraction representation of an irrational number is unique.
The real numbers whose continued fraction eventually repeats are precisely the quadratic irrationals.[5] For
example, the repeating continued fraction [1;1,1,1,…] is the golden ratio, and the repeating continued fraction
[1;2,2,2,…] is the square root of 2. In contrast, the decimal representations of quadratic irrationals are apparently
random. The square roots of all (positive) integers, that are not perfect squares, are quadratic irrationals, hence
are unique periodic continued fractions.
The successive approximations generated in finding the continued fraction representation of a number, i.e. by
truncating the continued fraction representation, are in a certain sense (described below) the "best possible".
Basic formula
A continued fraction is an expression of the form
where ai and bi are either rational numbers, real numbers, or complex numbers. If bi = 1 for all i the expression is
called a simple continued fraction. If the expression contains a finite number of terms, it is called a finite continued
fraction. If the expression contains an infinite number of terms, it is called an infinite continued fraction.[6]
Thus, all of the following illustrate valid finite simple continued fractions:
Examples of finite simple continued fractions

Formula Numeric Remarks
All integers are a degenerate case
Simplest possible fractional form
First integer may be negative
First integer may be zero
Calculating continued fraction representations

Consider a real number . Let be the integer part of and let be the fractional part of . Then the
continued fraction representation of is , where is the continued fraction representation of
.
To calculate a continued fraction representation of a number , write down the integer part (technically the floor) of .
Subtract this integer part from . If the difference is 0, stop; otherwise find the reciprocal of the difference and repeat.
The procedure will halt if and only if is rational. This process can be efficiently implemented using the Euclidean
algorithm when the number is rational. The table below shows an implementation of this procedure for the number
3.245, resulting in the continued fraction expansion [3; 4,12,3,1].
Find the continued fraction for
Step Real Number Integer part Fractional part Simplified Reciprocal of f
STOP
Continued fraction form for is :
Notations for continued fractions

The integers , etc., are called the coefficients or terms of the continued fraction.[2] One can abbreviate the
continued fraction
in the notation of Carl Friedrich Gauss
or as
,
or in the notation of Pringsheim as
or in another related notation as
Sometimes angle brackets are used, like this:
The semicolon in the square and angle bracket notations is sometimes replaced by a comma.[3][4]
One may also define infinite simple continued fractions as limits:
This limit exists for any choice of and positive integers .
Finite continued fractions

Every finite continued fraction represents a rational number, and every rational number can be represented in precisely
two different ways as a finite continued fraction, with the conditions that the first coefficient is an integer and other
coefficients being positive integers. These two representations agree except in their final terms. In the longer
representation the final term in the continued fraction is 1; the shorter representation drops the final 1, but increases the
new final term by 1. The final element in the short representation is therefore always greater than 1, if present. In
symbols:
[a0; a1, a2, …, an − 1, an, 1] = [a0; a1, a2, …, an − 1, an + 1].

[a0; 1] = [a0 + 1].
Continued fractions of reciprocals

The continued fraction representations of a positive rational number and its reciprocal are identical except for a shift
one place left or right depending on whether the number is less than or greater than one respectively. In other words,
the numbers represented by and are reciprocals. For instance if is an integer
and then
and .
If then
and .
The last number that generates the remainder of the continued fraction is the same for both and its reciprocal.
For example,
and .
Infinite continued fractions and convergents

Every infinite continued fraction is irrational, and every irrational number can be represented in precisely one way as
an infinite continued fraction.
An infinite continued fraction representation for an irrational number is useful because its initial segments provide
rational approximations to the number. These rational numbers are called the convergents of the continued
fraction.[7][8] The larger a term is in the continued fraction, the closer the corresponding convergent is to the irrational
number being approximated. Numbers like π have occasional large terms in their continued fraction, which makes
them easy to approximate with rational numbers. Other numbers like e have only small terms early in their continued
fraction, which makes them more difficult to approximate rationally. The golden ratio ϕ has terms equal to 1
everywhere—the smallest values possible—which makes ϕ the most difficult number to approximate rationally. In this
sense, therefore, it is the "most irrational" of all irrational numbers. Even-numbered convergents are smaller than the
original number, while odd-numbered ones are larger.
For a continued fraction [a0; a1, a2, …], the first four convergents (numbered 0 through 3) are
a0 a1a0 + 1 a2(a1a0 + 1) + a0 a3(a2(a1a0 + 1) + a0) + (a1a0 + 1)

1, a1 , a2a1 + 1 , a3(a2a1 + 1) + a1
In words, the numerator of the third convergent is formed by multiplying the numerator of the second convergent by
the third quotient, and adding the numerator of the first convergent. The denominators are formed similarly. Therefore,
each convergent can be expressed explicitly in terms of the continued fraction as the ratio of certain multivariate
polynomials called continuants.
If successive convergents are found, with numerators h1, h2, … and denominators k1, k2, … then the relevant recursive
relation is:
hn = anhn − 1 + hn − 2,
kn = ankn − 1 + kn − 2.
The successive convergents are given by the formula
hn anhn − 1 + hn − 2
kn = ankn − 1 + kn − 2
Thus to incorporate a new term into a rational approximation, only the two previous convergents are necessary. The
initial "convergents" (required for the first two terms) are 0⁄1 and 1⁄0. For example, here are the convergents for
[0;1,5,2,2].
n −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4
an 0 1 5 2 2
hn 0 1 0 1 5 11 27
kn 1 0 1 1 6 13 32
When using the Babylonian method to generate successive approximations to the square root of an integer, if one starts
with the lowest integer as first approximant, the rationals generated all appear in the list of convergents for the
continued fraction. Specifically, the approximants will appear on the convergents list in positions 0, 1, 3, 7, 15,
… , 2k−1, ... For example, the continued fraction expansion for √3 is [1;1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,…]. Comparing the
convergents with the approximants derived from the Babylonian method:
n −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
an 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
hn 0 1 1 2 5 7 19 26 71 97
kn 1 0 1 1 3 4 11 15 41 56
x0 = 1 = 11
x1 = 12 (1 + 31 ) = 21 = 2
x2 = 12 (2 + 32 ) = 74
3
x3 = 12 ( 74 + 7 ) = 97
56
4
Properties
Baire space is a topological space on infinite sequences of natural numbers. The infinite continued fraction provides a
homeomorphism from Baire space to the space of irrational real numbers (with the subspace topology inherited from
the usual topology on the reals). The infinite continued fraction also provides a map between the quadratic irrationals
and the dyadic rationals, and from other irrationals to the set of infinite strings of binary numbers (i.e. the Cantor set);
this map is called the Minkowski question mark function. The mapping has interesting self-similar fractal properties;
these are given by the modular group, which is the subgroup of Mobius transformations having integer values in the
transform. Roughly speaking, continued fraction convergents can be taken to be Mobius transformations acting on the
(hyperbolic) upper half-plane; this is what leads to the fractal self-symmetry.
Some useful theorems
If , , , is an infinite sequence of positive integers, define the sequences and recursively:
Theorem 1. For any positive real number
Theorem 2. The convergents of [ ; , , ] are given by
Theorem 3. If the th convergent to a continued fraction is / , then
Corollary 1: Each convergent is in its lowest terms (for if and had a nontrivial common divisor it would divide
, which is impossible).
Corollary 2: The difference between successive convergents is a fraction whose numerator is unity:
Corollary 3: The continued fraction is equivalent to a series of alternating terms:
Corollary 4: The matrix
has determinant plus or minus one, and thus belongs to the group of unimodular matrices .
Theorem 4. Each ( th) convergent is nearer to a subsequent ( th) convergent than any preceding ( th)
convergent is. In symbols, if the th convergent is taken to be , then
for all .
Corollary 1: The even convergents (before the th) continually increase, but are always less than .
Corollary 2: The odd convergents (before the th) continually decrease, but are always greater than .
Theorem 5.
Corollary 1: Any convergent is nearer to the continued fraction than any other fraction whose denominator is less than
that of the convergent.
Corollary 2: Any convergent which immediately precedes a large quotient is a near approximation to the continued
fraction.
Semiconvergents
If
are consecutive convergents, then any fractions of the form
where is an integer such that , are called semiconvergents, secondary convergents, or intermediate
fractions. The -st semiconvergent equals the mediant of -th one and the convergent . It follows that
semiconvergents represent a monotonic sequence of fractions between the convergents (corresponding to )
and (corresponding to ). Sometimes the term is taken to mean that being a semiconvergent excludes
the possibility of being a convergent (i.e., ), rather than that a convergent is a kind of semiconvergent.
The semiconvergents to the continued fraction expansion of a real number include all the rational approximations
that are better than any approximation with a smaller denominator. Another useful property is that consecutive
semiconvergents and are such that .
Best rational approximations

n
One can choose to define a best rational approximation to a real number x as a rational number d , d > 0, that is closer
to x than any approximation with a smaller or equal denominator. The simple continued fraction for x generates all of
the best rational approximations for x according to three rules:
1. Truncate the continued fraction, and possibly reduce its last term.
2. The reduced term cannot have less than half its original value.
3. If the final term is even, half its value is admissible only if the corresponding semiconvergent is better than the
previous convergent. (See below.)
For example, 0.84375 has continued fraction [0;1,5,2,2]. Here are all of its best rational approximations.

Continued fraction [0;1] [0;1,3] [0;1,4] [0;1,5] [0;1,5,2]
[0;1,5,2,1] [0;1,5,2,2]
Rational 3 4 5 11 16 27
1 4 5 6 13 19 32
approximation
Decimal equivalent 1 0.75 0.8 ~0.83333 ~0.84615 ~0.84211 0.84375
Error +18.519% −11.111% −5.1852% −1.2346% +0.28490% −0.19493% 0%
The strictly monotonic increase in the denominators as additional terms are included permits an algorithm to impose a
limit, either on size of denominator or closeness of approximation.
The "half rule" mentioned above is that when ak is even, the halved term ak/2 is admissible if and only if
|x − [a0 ; a1, …, ak − 1]| > |x − [a0 ; a1, …, ak − 1, ak/2]| [9] This is equivalent[9] to:[10]
[ak; ak − 1, …, a1] > [ak; ak + 1, …].
The convergents to x are best approximations in an even stronger sense: n/d is a convergent for x if and only if
|dx − n| is the least among all approximations m/c with c ≤ d; that is, we have |dx − n| < |cx − m| so long as c < d.
(Note also that |dkx − nk| → 0 as k → ∞.)
Best rational within an interval
A rational that falls within the interval (x, y), for 0 < x < y, can be found with the continued fractions for x and y.
When both x and y are irrational and
x = [a0; a1, a2, …, ak − 1, ak, ak + 1, …]

y = [a0; a1, a2, …, ak − 1, bk, bk + 1, …]
where x and y have identical continued fraction expansions up through ak−1, a rational that falls within the interval
(x, y) is given by the finite continued fraction,
z(x,y) = [a0; a1, a2, …, ak − 1, min(ak, bk) + 1]
This rational will be best in the sense that no other rational in (x, y) will have a smaller numerator or a smaller
denominator.
If x is rational, it will have two continued fraction representations that are finite, x1 and x2, and similarly a rational y
will have two representations, y1 and y2. The coefficients beyond the last in any of these representations should be
interpreted as +∞; and the best rational will be one of z(x1, y1), z(x1, y2), z(x2, y1), or z(x2, y2).
For example, the decimal representation 3.1416 could be rounded from any number in the interval
[3.14155, 3.14165]. The continued fraction representations of 3.14155 and 3.14165 are
3.14155 = [3; 7, 15, 2, 7, 1, 4, 1, 1] = [3; 7, 15, 2, 7, 1, 4, 2]
3.14165 = [3; 7, 16, 1, 3, 4, 2, 3, 1] = [3; 7, 16, 1, 3, 4, 2, 4]
and the best rational between these two is
[3; 7, 16] = 355

113 = 3.1415929....
Thus, 355
113
is the best rational number corresponding to the rounded decimal number 3.1416, in the sense that no other
rational number that would be rounded to 3.1416 will have a smaller numerator or a smaller denominator.
Interval for a convergent
A rational number, which can be expressed as finite continued fraction in two ways,
z = [a0; a1, …, ak − 1, ak, 1] = [a0; a1, …, ak − 1, ak + 1]
will be one of the convergents for the continued fraction expansion of a number, if and only if the number is strictly
between
x = [a0; a1, …, ak − 1, ak, 2] and

y = [a0; a1, …, ak − 1, ak + 2]
The numbers x and y are formed by incrementing the last coefficient in the two representations for z. It is the case that
x < y when k is even, and x > y when k is odd.
For example, the number 355

113
has the continued fraction representations
355
113
= [3; 7, 15, 1] = [3; 7, 16]
and thus 355

113
is a convergent of any number strictly between
[3; 7, 15, 2] = 688

219 ≈ 3.1415525
[3; 7, 17] = 377
120 ≈ 3.1416667
Comparison of continued fractions

Consider x = [a0; a1, …] and y = [b0; b1, …]. If k is the smallest index for which ak is unequal to bk then x < y if
(−1)k(ak − bk) < 0 and y < x otherwise.
If there is no such k, but one expansion is shorter than the other, say x = [a0; a1, …, an] and
y = [b0; b1, …, bn, bn + 1, …] with ai = bi for 0 ≤ i ≤ n, then x < y if n is even and y < x if n is odd.
Continued fraction expansions of π

1
To calculate the convergents of π we may set a0 = ⌊π⌋ = 3, define u1 = π − 3 ≈ 7.0625 and a1 = ⌊u1⌋ = 7,
u2 = u 1− 7 ≈ 15.9966 and a2 = ⌊u2⌋ = 15, u3 = u −1 15 ≈ 1.0034. Continuing like this, one can determine the
1 2
infinite continued fraction of π as
[3;7,15,1,292,1,1,…] (sequence A001203 in the OEIS).
The fourth convergent of π is [3;7,15,1] = 355

113 = 3.14159292035..., sometimes called Milü, which is fairly close to the
true value of π.
Let us suppose that the quotients found are, as above, [3;7,15,1]. The following is a rule by which we can write down
at once the convergent fractions which result from these quotients without developing the continued fraction.
The first quotient, supposed divided by unity, will give the first fraction, which will be too small, namely, 31 . Then,
multiplying the numerator and denominator of this fraction by the second quotient and adding unity to the numerator,
we shall have the second fraction, 22
7 , which will be too large. Multiplying in like manner the numerator and
denominator of this fraction by the third quotient, and adding to the numerator the numerator of the preceding fraction,
and to the denominator the denominator of the preceding fraction, we shall have the third fraction, which will be too
small. Thus, the third quotient being 15, we have for our numerator (22 × 15 = 330) + 3 = 333, and for our
denominator, (7 × 15 = 105) + 1 = 106.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continued_fraction The third convergent, therefore, is 333 . We proceed in the same manner for the
11/20
denominator, (7 × 15 = 105) + 1 = 106. The third convergent, therefore, is 333 106 . We proceed in the same manner for the
fourth convergent. The fourth quotient being 1, we say 333 times 1 is 333, and this plus 22, the numerator of the
fraction preceding, is 355; similarly, 106 times 1 is 106, and this plus 7 is 113.
In this manner, by employing the four quotients [3;7,15,1], we obtain the four fractions:
3 22 333 355
, , ,
1 7 106 113
, ….
These convergents are alternately smaller and larger than the true value of π, and approach nearer and nearer to π. The
difference between a given convergent and π is less than the reciprocal of the product of the denominators of that
convergent and the next convergent. For example, the fraction 227
is greater than π, but 22
7
1
− π is less than 7 × 106 1
= 742
(in fact, 22
7
1
− π is just more than 791 = 7 ×1113 ).
The demonstration of the foregoing properties is deduced from the fact that if we seek the difference between one of
the convergent fractions and the next adjacent to it we shall obtain a fraction of which the numerator is always unity
and the denominator the product of the two denominators. Thus the difference between 22 7
and 31 is 17 , in excess;
between 333
106
and 22 , 1 , in deficit; between 355
7 742 113
and 333 , 1 , in excess; and so on. The result being, that by
106 11978
employing this series of differences we can express in another and very simple manner the fractions with which we are
here concerned, by means of a second series of fractions of which the numerators are all unity and the denominators
successively be the product of every two adjacent denominators. Instead of the fractions written above, we have thus
the series:
3
+ 1 − 1 + 1
1 1 × 7 7 × 106 106 × 113
−…
The first term, as we see, is the first fraction; the first and second together give the second fraction, 22
7
; the first, the
second and the third give the third fraction 333
106
, and so on with the rest; the result being that the series entire is
equivalent to the original value.
Generalized continued fraction

A generalized continued fraction is an expression of the form
where the an (n > 0) are the partial numerators, the bn are the partial denominators, and the leading term b0 is called the
integer part of the continued fraction.
To illustrate the use of generalized continued fractions, consider the following example. The sequence of partial
denominators of the simple continued fraction of π does not show any obvious pattern:
or
However, several generalized continued fractions for π have a perfectly regular structure, such as:
The first two of these are special cases of the arctangent function with π = 4 arctan (1).
The above continued fraction of pi consisting of cubes uses the Nilakantha series and an exploit from Leonhard
Euler.[11]
Other continued fraction expansions

Periodic continued fractions
The numbers with periodic continued fraction expansion are precisely the irrational solutions of quadratic equations
with rational coefficients; rational solutions have finite continued fraction expansions as previously stated. The
simplest examples are the golden ratio φ = [1;1,1,1,1,1,…] and √2 = [1;2,2,2,2,…], while √14 = [3;1,2,1,6,1,2,1,6…]
and √42 = [6;2,12,2,12,2,12…]. All irrational square roots of integers have a special form for the period; a
symmetrical string, like the empty string (for √2) or 1,2,1 (for √14), followed by the double of the leading integer.
A property of the golden ratio φ
Because the continued fraction expansion for φ doesn't use any integers greater than 1, φ is one of the most "difficult"
real numbers to approximate with rational numbers. Hurwitz's theorem[12] states that any real number k can be
approximated by infinitely many rational m
n
with
While virtually all real numbers k will eventually have infinitely many convergents m
n
whose distance from k is
significantly smaller than this limit, the convergents for φ (i.e., the numbers 53 , 85 , 13 , 21 , etc.) consistently "toe the
8 13
boundary", keeping a distance of almost exactly away from φ, thus never producing an approximation nearly as
impressive as, for example, 355
113
for π. It can also be shown that every real number of the form ac ++ dφ
bφ
, where a, b, c,
and d are integers such that a d − b c = ±1, shares this property with the golden ratio φ; and that all other real
numbers can be more closely approximated.
Regular patterns in continued fractions
While there is no discernable pattern in the simple continued fraction expansion of π, there is one for e, the base of the
natural logarithm:
which is a special case of this general expression for positive integer n:
Another, more complex pattern appears

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continued_fraction in this continued fraction expansion for positive odd n: 14/20
Another, more complex pattern appears in this continued fraction expansion for positive odd n:
with a special case for n = 1:
Other continued fractions of this sort are
where n is a positive integer; also, for integral n:
with a special case for n = 1:
If In(x) is the modified, or hyperbolic, Bessel function of the first kind, we may define a function on the rationals pq by
which is defined for all rational numbers, with p and q in lowest terms. Then for all nonnegative rationals, we have
with similar formulas for negative rationals; in particular we have
Many of the formulas can be proved using Gauss's continued fraction.
Typical continued fractions
Most irrational numbers do not have any periodic or regular behavior in their continued fraction expansion.
Nevertheless, Khinchin proved that for almost all real numbers x, the ai (for i = 1, 2, 3, …) have an astonishing
property: their geometric mean is a constant (known as Khinchin's constant, K ≈ 2.6854520010…) independent of
the value of x. Paul Lévy showed that the nth root of the denominator of the nth convergent of the continued fraction
expansion of almost all real numbers approaches an asymptotic limit, approximately 3.27582, which is known as
Lévy's constant. Lochs' theorem states that nth convergent of the continued fraction expansion of almost all real
numbers determines the number to an average accuracy of just over n decimal places.
Applications
Square roots
Generalized continued fractions are used in a method for computing square roots.
The identity
(1)
leads via recursion to the generalized continued fraction for any square root:[13]
(2)
Pell's equation
Continued fractions play an essential role in the solution of Pell's equation. For example, for positive integers p and q,
p
and non-square n, it is true that p2 − nq2 = ±1 if and only if q is a convergent of the regular continued fraction for
√n.
Dynamical systems
Continued fractions also play a role in the study of dynamical systems, where they tie together the Farey fractions
which are seen in the Mandelbrot set with Minkowski's question mark function and the modular group Gamma.
The backwards shift operator for continued fractions is the map h(x) = 1/x − ⌊1/x⌋ called the Gauss map, which lops
off digits of a continued fraction expansion: h([0; a1, a2, a3, …]) = [0; a2, a3, …]. The transfer operator of this
map is called the Gauss–Kuzmin–Wirsing operator. The distribution of the digits in continued fractions is given by the
zero'th eigenvector of this operator, and is called the Gauss–Kuzmin distribution.
Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
The Lanczos algorithm uses a continued fraction expansion to iteratively approximate the eigenvalues and eigenvectors
of a large sparse matrix.[14]
Examples of rational and irrational numbers
Number r 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ar 123
123
ra 123
ar 12 3 3
12.3
ra 12 37 123
3 10
ar 1 4 2 1 7
1.23 5 11 16 123
ra 1 4 9 13 100
ar 0 8 7 1 2 5
0.123 1 7 8 23 123
ra 0 8 57 65 187 1 000
ϕ= ar 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
√5 + 1 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144
2 ra 1 2 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89
−ϕ = ar −2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
− √52+ 1 ra −2 − 3 − 5 − 8 − 13 − 21 − 34 − 55 − 89 − 144 − 233
2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144
ar 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
√2
ra 1 32 75 17 12
41
29
99
70
239
169
577
408
1 393
985
3 363
2 378
8 119
5 741
ar 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1
√2 2 5 12 29 70 169 408 985 2 378
ra 0 1 3 7 17 41 99 239 577 1 393 3 363
ar 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
√3 5 7 19 26 71 97 265 362 989
ra 1 2 3 4 11 15 41 56 153 209 571
ar 0 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
1
√3 1 3 4 11 15 41 56 153 209
ra 0 1 2 5 7 19 26 71 97 265 362
ar 0 1 6 2 6 2 6 2 6 2 6
√3
2 6 13 84 181 1 170 2 521 16 296 35 113 226 974
ra 0 1 7 15 97 209 1 351 2 911 18 817 40 545 262 087
ar 1 3 1 5 1 1 4 1 1 8 1
³√2
4 5 29 34 63 286 349 635 5 429 6 064
ra 1 3 4 23 27 50 227 277 504 4 309 4 813
ar 2 1 2 1 1 4 1 1 6 1 1
e 8 11 19 87 106 193 1 264 1 457 2 721
ra 2 3 3 4 7 32 39 71 465 536 1 001
ar 3 7 15 1 292 1 1 1 2 1 3
π 22 333 355 103 993 104 348 208 341 312 689 833 719 1 146 408 4 272 943
ra 3 7 106 113 33 102 33 215 66 317 99 532 265 381 364 913 1 360 120
ra: rational approximant obtained by expanding continued fraction up to ar
History of continued fractions
300 BC Euclid's Elements contains an algorithm for the greatest common divisor which generates a continued
fraction as a by-product
499 The Aryabhatiya contains the solution of indeterminate equations using continued fractions
1579 Rafael Bombelli, L'Algebra Opera – method for the extraction of square roots which is related to continued
fractions
1613 Pietro Cataldi, Trattato del modo brevissimo di trovar la radice quadra delli numeri – first notation for
continued fractions
Cataldi represented a continued fraction as & & & with the dots indicating where the
following fractions went.
1695 John Wallis, Opera Mathematica – introduction of the term "continued fraction"
1737 Leonhard Euler, De fractionibus continuis dissertatio – Provided the first then-comprehensive account of
the properties of continued fractions, and included the first proof that the number e is irrational.[15]
1748 Euler, Introductio in analysin infinitorum. Vol. I, Chapter 18 – proved the equivalence of a certain form of
continued fraction and a generalized infinite series, proved that every rational number can be written as a finite
continued fraction, and proved that the continued fraction of an irrational number is infinite.[16]
1761 Johann Lambert – gave the first proof of the irrationality of π using a continued fraction for tan(x).
1768 Joseph Louis Lagrange – provided the general solution to Pell's equation using continued fractions similar
to Bombelli's
1770 Lagrange – proved that quadratic irrationals expand to periodic continued fractions.
1813 Carl Friedrich Gauss, Werke, Vol. 3, pp. 134–138 – derived a very general complex-valued continued
fraction via a clever identity involving the hypergeometric function
1892 Henri Padé defined Padé approximant
1972 Bill Gosper – First exact algorithms for continued fraction arithmetic.
See also
Stern–Brocot tree
Computing continued fractions of square roots
Complete quotient
Engel expansion
Generalized continued fraction
Mathematical constants (sorted by continued fraction representation)
Restricted partial quotients
Infinite series
Infinite product
Iterated binary operation
Euler's continued fraction formula
Śleszyński–Pringsheim theorem
Infinite compositions of analytic functions
Notes
1. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/135043/continued- 6. Collins, Darren C. "Continued Fractions" (https://web.arc
fraction hive.org/web/20011120064343/http://www-math.mit.edu:
2. Pettofrezzo & Byrkit (1970, p. 150) 80/phase2/UJM/vol1/COLLIN~1.PDF) (PDF). MIT
3. Long (1972, p. 173) Undergraduate Journal of Mathematics. Archived from
4. Pettofrezzo & Byrkit (1970, p. 152) the original (http://www-math.mit.edu/phase2/UJM/vol1/
5. Weisstein, Eric W. "Periodic Continued Fraction" (http:// COLLIN~1.PDF) (PDF) on 2001-11-20.
mathworld.wolfram.com/PeriodicContinuedFraction.htm 7. Long (1972, p. 177)
l). MathWorld. 8. Pettofrezzo & Byrkit (1970, pp. 162–163)
9. M. Thill (2008), "A more precise rounding algorithm for 13. Ben Thurston, "Estimating square roots, generalized
rational numbers", Computing, 82: 189–198, continued fraction expression for every square root" (htt
doi:10.1007/s00607-008-0006-7 (https://doi.org/10.100 p://benpaulthurstonblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/estimating
7%2Fs00607-008-0006-7) -square-roots.html), The Ben Paul Thurston Blog
10. Shoemake, Ken (1995), "I.4: Rational Approximation" (ht 14. Martin, Richard M. (2004), Electronic Structure: Basic
tps://books.google.com/books?id=8CGj9_ZlFKoC&pg=P Theory and Practical Methods (https://books.google.com/
A25), in Paeth, Alan W., Graphic Gems V, San Diego, books?id=v1YhAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA557), Cambridge
California: Academic Press, pp. 25–31, ISBN 0-12- University Press, p. 557, ISBN 9781139643658.
543455-3 15. Sandifer, Ed (February 2006). "How Euler Did It: Who
11. Foster, Tony (June 22, 2015). "Theorem of the Day: proved e is irrational?" (http://www.maa.org/editorial/eule
Theorem no. 203" (http://www.theoremoftheday.org/Reso r/How%20Euler%20Did%20It%2028%20e%20is%20irra
urces/TheoremNotes.htm). Robin Whitty. Retrieved tional.pdf) (PDF). MAA Online.
June 25, 2015. 16. "E101 – Introductio in analysin infinitorum, volume 1" (h
12. Theorem 193: Hardy, G.H.; Wright, E.M. (1979). An ttp://math.dartmouth.edu/~euler/pages/E101.html).
Introduction to the Theory of Numbers (Fifth ed.). Retrieved 2008-03-16.
Oxford.
References
Siebeck, H. (1846). "Ueber periodische Kettenbrüche" (http://www.digizeitschriften.de/dms/resolveppn/?PID=P
PN243919689_0033%7Clog5). J. Reine Angew. Math. 33. pp. 68–70.
Heilermann, J. B. H. (1846). "Ueber die Verwandlung von Reihen in Kettenbrüche" (http://www.digizeitschrifte
n.de/dms/img/?PID=PPN243919689_0033%7Clog13). J. Reine Angew. Math. 33. pp. 174–188.
Magnus, Arne (1962). "Continued fractions associated with the Padé Table". Math. Zeitschr. 78. pp. 361–374.
Chen, Chen-Fan; Shieh, Leang-San (1969). "Continued fraction inversion by Routh's Algorithm". IEEE Trans.
Circ. Theory. 16 (2). pp. 197–202. doi:10.1109/TCT.1969.1082925 (https://doi.org/10.1109%2FTCT.1969.10829
25).
Gragg, William B. (1974). "Matrix interpretations and applications of the continued fraction algorithm". Rocky
Mount. J. Math. 4 (2). p. 213. doi:10.1216/RJM-1974-4-2-213 (https://doi.org/10.1216%2FRJM-1974-4-2-213).
Jones, William B.; Thron, W. J. (1980). Continued Fractions: Analytic Theory and Applications. Encyclopedia of
Mathematics and its Applications. 11. Reading. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. ISBN 0-
201-13510-8.
Khinchin, A. Ya. (1964) [Originally published in Russian, 1935]. Continued Fractions. University of Chicago
Press. ISBN 0-486-69630-8.
Long, Calvin T. (1972), Elementary Introduction to Number Theory (2nd ed.), Lexington: D. C. Heath and
Company, LCCN 77-171950 (https://lccn.loc.gov/77-171950)
Perron, Oskar (1950). Die Lehre von den Kettenbrüchen. New York, NY: Chelsea Publishing Company.
Pettofrezzo, Anthony J.; Byrkit, Donald R. (1970), Elements of Number Theory, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice
Hall, LCCN 77-81766 (https://lccn.loc.gov/77-81766)
Rockett, Andrew M.; Szüsz, Peter (1992). Continued Fractions. World Scientific Press. ISBN 981-02-1047-7.
H. S. Wall, Analytic Theory of Continued Fractions, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1948 ISBN 0-8284-0207-8
Cuyt, A.; Brevik Petersen, V.; Verdonk, B.; Waadeland, H.; Jones, W. B. (2008). Handbook of Continued
fractions for Special functions. Springer Verlag. ISBN 978-1-4020-6948-2.
Rieger, G. J. (1982). "A new approach to the real numbers (motivated by continued fractions)". Abh.
Braunschweig.Wiss. Ges. 33. pp. 205–217.
External links
Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001), "Continued fraction" (https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=p/c
025540), Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Springer, ISBN 978-1-55608-010-4
An Introduction to the Continued Fraction (http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/cfINT
RO.html)
Linas Vepstas Continued Fractions and Gaps (http://www.linas.org/math/chap-gap/chap-gap.html) (2004)
reviews chaotic structures in continued fractions.
Continued Fractions on the Stern-Brocot Tree (http://www.cut-the-knot.org/blue/ContinuedFractions.shtml) at

cut-the-knot
The Antikythera Mechanism I: Gear ratios and continued fractions (http://www.math.sunysb.edu/~tony/whatsne
w/column/antikytheraI-0400/kyth3.html)
Continued fraction calculator (http://wims.unice.fr/~wims/en_tool~number~contfrac.en.html), WIMS.
Continued Fraction Arithmetic (https://web.archive.org/web/20030202011209/http://www.tweedledum.com/rwg/
cfup.htm) Gosper's first continued fractions paper, unpublished. Cached on the Internet Archive's Wayback
Machine
Weisstein, Eric W. "Continued Fraction" (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ContinuedFraction.html). MathWorld.
Continued Fractions (http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/ContinuedFractions/) by Stephen Wolfram and

Continued Fraction Approximations of the Tangent Function (http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/ContinuedFrac
tionApproximationsOfTheTangentFunction/) by Michael Trott, Wolfram Demonstrations Project.
A133593 Exact Continued Fraction for Pi
A view into "fractional interpolation" of a continued fraction {1; 1, 1, 1, ...} (http://go.helms-net.de/math/tetdo
cs/FracIterAltGeom.htm)
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6/16/2017 Continued fraction - Wikipedia

In mathematics, a continued fraction is an expression obtained through an

13.1 Periodic continued fractions

Motivation and notation

Examples of finite simple continued fractions

Simplest possible fractional form

First integer may be negative

First integer may be zero

Calculating continued fraction representations

Find the continued fraction for

Step Real Number Integer part Fractional part Simplified Reciprocal of f

Continued fraction form for is :

Notations for continued fractions

in the notation of Carl Friedrich Gauss

or in the notation of Pringsheim as

or in another related notation as

Sometimes angle brackets are used, like this:

One may also define infinite simple continued fractions as limits:

This limit exists for any choice of and positive integers .

Finite continued fractions

[a0; a1, a2, …, an − 1, an, 1] = [a0; a1, a2, …, an − 1, an + 1].

Continued fractions of reciprocals

Infinite continued fractions and convergents

a0 a1a0 + 1 a2(a1a0 + 1) + a0 a3(a2(a1a0 + 1) + a0) + (a1a0 + 1)

The successive convergents are given by the formula

Some useful theorems

If , , , is an infinite sequence of positive integers, define the sequences and recursively:

Theorem 1. For any positive real number

Theorem 2. The convergents of [ ; , , ] are given by

Theorem 3. If the th convergent to a continued fraction is / , then

Corollary 3: The continued fraction is equivalent to a series of alternating terms:

Corollary 4: The matrix

are consecutive convergents, then any fractions of the form

Best rational approximations

[ak; ak − 1, …, a1] > [ak; ak + 1, …].

Best rational within an interval

x = [a0; a1, a2, …, ak − 1, ak, ak + 1, …]

[3; 7, 16] = 355

Interval for a convergent

z = [a0; a1, …, ak − 1, ak, 1] = [a0; a1, …, ak − 1, ak + 1]

x = [a0; a1, …, ak − 1, ak, 2] and

For example, the number 355

and thus 355

[3; 7, 15, 2] = 688

Comparison of continued fractions

Continued fraction expansions of π

[3;7,15,1,292,1,1,…] (sequence A001203 in the OEIS).

The fourth convergent of π is [3;7,15,1] = 355

denominator, (7 × 15 = 105) + 1 = 106.

Generalized continued fraction

Other continued fraction expansions

A property of the golden ratio φ

Regular patterns in continued fractions

which is a special case of this general expression for positive integer n:

Another, more complex pattern appears

with a special case for n = 1:

Other continued fractions of this sort are

where n is a positive integer; also, for integral n:

with a special case for n = 1:

with similar formulas for negative rationals; in particular we have

Many of the formulas can be proved using Gauss's continued fraction.

Typical continued fractions

Eigenvalues and eigenvectors