
Fractional Sequences
Problem 343
Published on Saturday, 18th June 2011, 04:00 pm; Solved by 736For any positive integer k, a finite sequence ai of fractions xi/yi is defined by:
a1 = 1/k and
ai = (xi-1+1)/(yi-1-1) reduced to lowest terms for i>1.
When ai reaches some integer n, the sequence stops. (That is, when yi=1.)
Define f(k) = n.
For example, for k = 20:
1/20
2/19
3/18 = 1/6
2/5
3/4
4/3
5/2
6/1 = 6
So f(20) = 6.
Also f(1) = 1, f(2) = 2, f(3) = 1 and Σf(k3) = 118937 for 1
k
100.
Find Σf(k3) for 1
k
2
106.