COUNTING OMITTED VALUES

GRAHAM LORD
Temple University, Philadelphia, Peon. 10122

INTRODUCTION
H. L. Alder in [l] has extended J. L. Brown, J r . Ts result on complete sequences [2]
by showing that if { P j } .

1 9

is a non-decreasing sequence and { k i } . _

is a s e -

quence of positive integers, then with PA = 1 every natural number can be represented as

ar. P . ,
l

i=l

where 0 a. < k. if and only if

P .k+1
... <

1 +

y\. p.
i=l

for n = 1, 2, ' " .

He also proves for a given sequence {k^}._ 1

non-decreasing sequence of positive integers \ P j / - _ - |

there is only one

for which the representation is

unique for every natural number s namely the set { p . } = {^i} _-,

. . . where $ t = 1, 0 2

1 + lq, 03 = ( l + k j M l + ka), , 0. = (l + k ^ d + kg) ( l + k . ^ ) , .

This paper investigates those natural numbers not represented by the form

i=l

for 0 < a. ^ k. where {k.} is as above and { P 1 } . _ 1

1

1X, A 5 "

sequence of positive integers satisfying

n
(1)

n + 1^

1+

ZkiPI
i=l
443

n = 1, 2,

is a necessarily increasing

444

COUNTING OMITTED VALUES

When specialized to k. = 1 for all

[Nov.

the results obtained include those in Hoggatt T s and

Peterson s paper [ 3 ] .

2.
Theorem 1.

UNIQUENESS OF REPRESENTATION

For P . satisfying (1), the representation of the natural number

as

2>ipi
i=l

where 0 < a. < k. is unique.

Proof.

Let N be the smallest integer with possibly two representations

N B

EaBPB

S=l

l>tPt '
t=l

where a

f 0 f jS
n
m
If m / n assume m > 11. Then by (1)

SaP
s

< Y
^ k P < Pn+1
^ - 1 < Pm - 1 < V
Vp. - 1< V
VP, .
/ J s s
/ ^ t t
jL-d t t

s=l

s=l

Thus, m = n.

t=l

Either a
n

t=l

> |3 or a < B . Suppose without loss of generality a ^. B .

&
J
n
n
n
^
n
*n

The natural number

n-1

E Pf *
p

t t

n-1
=

t=l

a
y^
x ^

&n - r pn ')

s=l

and since it is l e s s than N it has only one representation.

, n, i . e . ,

Hence a

= j3

for

s = 1, 2,

N has a unique representation.

3.

Definition.

OMITTED VALUES

For x > 0 let M(x) be the number of natural numbers l e s s than or equal

to x which a r e not represented by

1973]

COUNTING OMITTED VALUES

445

2>ipi
i=l
Theorem 2. If
n
N

JI

i i

n '

i=l

is the largest representable integer not exceeding the positive number x then

n
M(x) = [x] - ^ V i
i=l

where [ ]
Proof.

'

is the greatest integer function.

By Theorem 1, it is sufficient to show the number,

integers not exceeding x,

R(x), of representable

equals

XX^i
i=l

But R(x) = R(N) from the definition of N. Now all integers of the form

X>i p i
i=l

with the only restriction that 0 < j3 < a a r e l e s s than N since:

J
n
n
n
n-1

E
i=l

/3.P. < y ^ k . P. + |3 P
i=l
< (1 l + j8 J} p
-1
n
n
n-1
< a. P
n

+>
n

JL-JI

i=l

OL.V.
i i

= N

446

COUNTING OMITTED VALUES

[Nov.

Again by the uniqueness of representation to form

E^pi-

0 < B < a
*n
n

i=l

there are a
,

choices for j3 , (l l + k AJ choices for j3 ^, L( l + k n\J

n
.n
n-l
.n-1
n-2
and {l + k j choices for jS^ ; in all there a r e # <>
/
numbers.

choices for j3 _,
*n-2

It remains to count numbers of the form

n-1
+ \ " * p. P .
/ ^ *i

i=l

which do not exceed

n-1
N = a P + > a. P.
n n x ^ i i
n n
i=l
That is the number of integers
n-1

n-1

i=l

i=l

Hence

(SaiPi)

Vn

+ R

(Zl a i P i

and because R I ^ P J } = at = af1^)1 then

< nn

\i=l

i=l

[The representable positive integers l e s s than or equal to a 1 P 1 a r e

Pl9

2 P l s **,

^P^]

This completes the proof.

As P. is representable, the theorem give M(P.) = P. - $.. and the following result is
immediate.

1973]

COUNTING OMITTED VALUES

447

Corollary.

' n

Eaipi)=S"iM(pi)

k i=l

i=l

ZM("ipi)
i=l

Note that if k. = 1 for all i = 1, 2, ' " , Theorems 3 and 4 in [3] a r e special c a s e s
of the above theorem and corollary.

4.

SOME APPLICATIONS

The two sequences P = F 0 and P = F 0 .,, n = 1, 2,

n
2n
n
2n-l
isfy Theorems 1 and 2 for k. = 1 i = 1, 2, . However,

1 + 2(Fo + F y j + * - - + F
v 2

2n'

) = F
r
2n+2

+ F
r
2n-l

mentioned in Lf3lJ sat-

- 1 > F
x
~ r 2n+2

with equality only when n = 1, and

1 + 2(FH + + F
) = F
v x
2n-l;
2n+l

+ F
2n-2

+ 1 > F
2n+l

Consequently, by Alder's result,

Theorem 3. Every natural number can be expressed as

2 > i F2i
i=l

and as

Z^iF2i-l
i=l
where a. and j3. are 0 , 1 , or 2.
To return to the general case, let { k . } be a fixed sequence of positive integers; then
any sequence { P ^ satisfying (1) also satisfies

^0

for all n.

PA > 1 = 0i and induction:

n-1
n-1
> 1 + ; k. P. > 1 + T ^ k. (h. = (h
i=l

i=l

This MlOWS from

448

COUNTING OMITTED VALUES

Nov. 1973

Hence by the corollary

n

X"ipi)=Z"i^i-^} *

Ml'
\i=l

i=l

with equality iff P, =</).. F u r t h e r m o r e , since k. ^ - 1 then {</>.} is an increasing sequence

and so for every natural number N there exist a, such that

< ^ a i ^ i
i=l

N
Therefore

M(N) < Miy^a. 0. 1 = 0 ,

,i=l
i. e. , N has a representation in the form

2>*i
i=l

These facts, together with Theorem 1, give

Theorem 4. If {k.} is any sequence of positive integers, then every natural

number

has a unique representation as

oo
i=l
where 0 < a. < k. and fa = 1, fa = (1 + k t ) , , </>. = (1 + kj) (1 + k.__1) .
Corollary.

If r is a fixed integer l a r g e r than

unique representation in base

1 then every natural number has a

r.

Proof. In Theorem 4, take 1 + k. = r for all i.

i

5. REFERENCES
1. H. L. Alder,

"The Number System in More General S c a l e s , " Mathematics Magazine,

Vol. 35 (1962), pp. 145-151.

2. John L. Brown, J r . , "Note on Complete Sequences of I n t e g e r s , " The American Math.
Monthly, Vol. 67 (1960), pp. 557-560.
3.

V. E. Hoggatt, J r . , and Brian Peterson, "Some General Results on Representations,"

Fibonacci Quarterly, Vol. 10 (1972), pp. 81-88.