English

A generalized Fibonacci spiral

History and Overview 2020-04-21 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

As a generalization of planar Fibonacci spirals that are based on the recurrence relation Fn=Fn1+Fn2F_n=F_{n-1}+F_{n-2}, we draw assembled spirals stemming from analytic solutions of the recurrence relation Gn=aGn1+bGn2+cdnG_n=a\, G_{n-1}+b\, G_{n-2}+c\, d\,^n, with positive real initial values G0G_0 and G1G_1 and coefficients aa, bb, cc, and dd. The principal coordinates given in closed-form correspond to finite sums of alternating even- or alternating odd-indexed terms GnG_{n}. For rectangular spirals made of straight line segments (a.k.a. spirangles), the even-indexed and the odd-indexed directional corner points asymptotically lie on mutually orthogonal oblique lines. We calculate the points of intersection and show them in the case of inwinding spirals to coincide with the point of convergence. In the case of outwinding spirals, an nn-dependent quadruple of points of intersection may form. For arched spirals, interpolation between principal coordinates is performed by means of arcs of quarter-ellipses. A three-dimensional representation is exhibited, too. The continuation of the discrete sequence {Gn}\{G_n\} to the complex-valued function G(t)G(t) with real argument tt\inRR, exhibiting spiral graphs and oscillating curves in the Gaussian plane, subsumes the values GnG_n for tt\inN0N_0 as the zeros. Besides, we provide a matrix representation of GnG_n in terms of transformed Horadam numbers, retrieve the Shannon product difference identity as applied to GnG_n, and suggest a substitution method for finding a variety of other identities and summations related to GnG_n.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2004.08902,
  title  = {A generalized Fibonacci spiral},
  author = {Bernhard R. Parodi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.08902},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

22 pages, 4 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-23T14:57:02.187Z