In number theory, the nth Pisano period, written as ( n), is the period with which the sequence of taken modulo n repeats. Pisano periods are named after Leonardo Pisano, better known as Fibonacci. The existence of periodic functions in Fibonacci numbers was noted by Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1774. On Arithmetical functions related to the Fibonacci numbers. Acta Arithmetica XVI (1969). Retrieved 22 September 2011.
This follows by observing that ( n) is equal to the order of the Fibonacci matrix
Thus the Pisano periods of composite numbers can be computed by looking at the Pisano periods q = p k, for k ≥ 1.
If p is Prime number, ( p k) divides p k–1 ( p). It is unknown if for every prime p and integer k > 1. Any prime p providing a counterexample would necessarily be a Wall–Sun–Sun prime, and conversely every Wall–Sun–Sun prime p gives a counterexample (set k = 2).
For p = 2 and 5, the exact values of the Pisano periods are known. The periods of powers of these prime powers are as follows:
From these it follows that if n = 2·5 k then ( n) = 6 n.
Every p other than 2 and 5 lie in the residue classes or .
The former can be proven by observing that if , then the roots of modulo p belong to (by quadratic reciprocity). Thus their order, ( p) is a divisor of p − 1.
To prove the latter, if the roots modulo p of do not belong to (by quadratic reciprocity again), and belong to the finite field As the Frobenius automorphism exchanges these roots, it follows that, denoting them by r and s, we have r p = s, and thus r p+1 = –1. That is r 2( p+1) = 1, and the Pisano period, which is the order of r, is the quotient of 2( p + 1) by an odd divisor.
It follows from above results, that if n = p k is an odd prime power such that ( n) > n, then ( n)/4 is an integer that is not greater than n. The multiplicative property of Pisano periods imply thus that
If n is not of the form 2 · 5 r, then ( n) ≤ 4 n.
The first 144 Pisano periods are shown in the following table:
0 |
0 |
0, 1, 1 |
0, 1, 1, 2, (0, 2, 2, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, (0, 3, 3, 1, 4) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, (0, 5, 5, 2, 7, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, (0, 8, 8, 3, 11, 1, 12) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, (0, 13, 13, 5, 18, 2, 20, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, (0, 21, 21, 8, 29, 3, 32, 1, 33) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, (0, 34, 34, 13, 47, 5, 52, 2, 54, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, (0, 55, 55, 21, 76, 8, 84, 3, 87, 1, 88) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, (0, 89, 89, 34, 123, 13, 136, 5, 141, 2, 143, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657 |
0 |
0, 1, (1, 2) |
0, 1, 1, (2, 3, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, (3, 5, 1, 6) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, (5, 8, 2, 10, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, (8, 13, 3, 16, 1, 17) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, (13, 21, 5, 26, 2, 28, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, (21, 34, 8, 42, 3, 45, 1, 46) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, (34, 55, 13, 68, 5, 73, 2, 75, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, (55, 89, 21, 110, 8, 118, 3, 121, 1, 122) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, (89, 144, 34, 178, 13, 191, 5, 196, 2, 198, 1) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, (144, 233, 55, 288, 21, 309, 8, 317, 3, 320, 1, 321) |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711 |
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657 |
For even k, the cycle has two zeros. For odd k, the cycle has only one zero, and the second half of the cycle, which is of course equal to the part on the left of 0, consists of alternatingly numbers F(2 m + 1) and n − F(2 m), with m decreasing.
For generalized Fibonacci sequences (satisfying the same recurrence relation, but with other initial values, e.g. the Lucas numbers) the number of occurrences of 0 per cycle is 0, 1, 2, or 4.
The ratio of the Pisano period of n and the number of zeros modulo n in the cycle gives the rank of apparition or Fibonacci entry point of n. That is, smallest index k such that n divides F( k). They are:
In Renault's paper the number of zeros is called the "order" of F mod m, denoted , and the "rank of apparition" is called the "rank" and denoted .
According to Wall's conjecture, . If has prime factorization then .
The Pisano periods of (or 2-Fibonacci numbers) are
The Pisano periods of 3-Fibonacci numbers are
The Pisano periods of Jacobsthal numbers (or (1,2)-Fibonacci numbers) are
The Pisano periods of (1,3)-Fibonacci numbers are
The Pisano periods of Tribonacci numbers (or 3-step Fibonacci numbers) are
The Pisano periods of Tetranacci numbers (or 4-step Fibonacci numbers) are
See also generalizations of Fibonacci numbers.
Let be the n-th Pisano period of the k-Fibonacci sequence F k( n) ( k can be any natural number, these sequences are defined as F k(0) = 0, F k(1) = 1, and for any natural number n > 1, F k( n) = kF k( n−1) + F k( n−2)). If m and n are coprime, then , by the Chinese remainder theorem: two numbers are congruent modulo mn if and only if they are congruent modulo m and modulo n, assuming these latter are coprime. For example, and so Thus it suffices to compute Pisano periods for (Usually, , unless p is k-Wall–Sun–Sun prime, or k-Fibonacci–Wieferich prime, that is, p2 divides F k( p − 1) or F k( p + 1), where F k is the k-Fibonacci sequence, for example, 241 is a 3-Wall–Sun–Sun prime, since 2412 divides F3(242).)
For prime numbers p, these can be analyzed by using Binet's formula:
If k2 + 4 is a quadratic residue modulo p (where p > 2 and p does not divide k2 + 4), then and can be expressed as integers modulo p, and thus Binet's formula can be expressed over integers modulo p, and thus the Pisano period divides the totient , since any power (such as ) has period dividing as this is the order of the group of units modulo p.
For k = 1, this first occurs for p = 11, where 42 = 16 ≡ 5 (mod 11) and 2 · 6 = 12 ≡ 1 (mod 11) and 4 · 3 = 12 ≡ 1 (mod 11) so 4 = , 6 = 1/2 and 1/ = 3, yielding φ = (1 + 4) · 6 = 30 ≡ 8 (mod 11) and the congruence
Another example, which shows that the period can properly divide p − 1, is π1(29) = 14.
If k2 + 4 is not a quadratic residue modulo p, then Binet's formula is instead defined over the quadratic extension field , which has p2 elements and whose group of units thus has order p2 − 1, and thus the Pisano period divides p2 − 1. For example, for p = 3 one has π1(3) = 8 which equals 32 − 1 = 8; for p = 7, one has π1(7) = 16, which properly divides 72 − 1 = 48.
This analysis fails for p = 2 and p is a divisor of the squarefree part of k2 + 4, since in these cases are , so one must be careful in interpreting 1/2 or . For p = 2, is congruent to 1 mod 2 (for k odd), but the Pisano period is not p − 1 = 1, but rather 3 (in fact, this is also 3 for even k). For p divides the squarefree part of k2 + 4, the Pisano period is π k( k2 + 4) = p2 − p = p( p − 1), which does not divide p − 1 or p2 − 1.
Table of the extra cycles: (the original Fibonacci cycles are excluded) (using X and E for ten and eleven, respectively)
1 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
5 |
6 |
14 |
10 |
Number of Fibonacci integer cycles mod n are:
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