Patterns in Matrices: P^n and S^n Calculations

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The discussion focuses on calculating the powers of matrices P and S, specifically P^n and S^n, where P = (3 1; 1 3) and S = (4 2; 2 4). Users shared their calculations for n values ranging from 1 to 5, revealing patterns in the resulting matrices. Notably, the first term in each matrix differs from the second term by 2^n. The conversation also touched on the use of proof by induction and summation techniques to derive a general form for the matrix powers.

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jballer23
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K guys here's the problem

P= (3 1
1 3)

S=(4 2
2 4)

Calculate P^n and S^n for other values of n and describe any patterns you see.
I tried this one for about an hour and got a little bit. I just want to see what you can get out of it. Maybe I missed something. Please Help! thanks
 
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What values of n did you calculate it for? Can you show us a few examples and post anything if you anything, or not if you don't.
 
i calculated it out for 1,2,3,4,and 5 its really hard to post on my computer. do you have any ideas for finding a general form? because that is the basis of the problem
 
i'll see what i can do about the examples
 
P^3= (36 28
28 36)
P^4= (136 120
120 136)
P^5= (528 496
469 528)
 
jballer23 said:
i calculated it out for 1,2,3,4,and 5 its really hard to post on my computer. do you have any ideas for finding a general form? because that is the basis of the problem

(3 1)2
(1 3)
=
(10 6)
(6 10)


(3 1)3
(1 3)
=
(36 28)
(28 36)


(3 1)4
(1 3)
=
(136 120)
(120 136)


Do you not spot a pattern?

Are you familliar with proof by induction?
 
S^2= (20 16
20 16
S^3= (112 104
112 104)
S^4= (656 640
640 656)
S^5= (3904 3872
3872 3904)
 
no I'm not sorry I'm trying to learn this. its an assignment my teacher gave us and told us to run with. i saw one pattern but i don't really know how to explain it. i noticed that the first term in each matrix differed from the second term by 2^n. that's all i got by looking at it
 
jballer23 said:
no I'm not sorry I'm trying to learn this. its an assignment my teacher gave us and told us to run with. i saw one pattern but i don't really know how to explain it. i noticed that the first term in each matrix differed from the second term by 2^n. that's all i got by looking at it

That's quite cool, do you know how to summate terms like this:

\sum_{x=1}^n x
?

(Not this particular example, but that sort of style of summation)
 
  • #10
yes i do
 
  • #11
yes she has taught us that but i don't know what that has to do with it?
 
  • #12
jballer23 said:
yes i do

Think about trying to multiply the matrix "n times then". Perhaps start with an easy example then like:

(1 1)n
(1 1)
=
Code:
(1 1) (1 1) (1 1) ... (1 1)
(1 1) (1 1) (1 1)     (1 1)

(Try actually writting what's happening in each element, you should get a bit of a long sum, that you can calculate).
 
  • #13
ok i did that but I'm still not getting how to work that with my original problem
 
  • #14
jballer23 said:
ok i did that but I'm still not getting how to work that with my original problem

Well it's the same princaple, if you get a summation form in each of the element, you've worked out what it is, more over you may be able to put it in a closed form if you understand how to do the summations.
 
  • #15
ok thank you, i'll try that today I'm pretty sure i'll be able to work it out now. That helped a lot.
 
  • #16
hey i couldn't find any patterns that way. did you find anything?
 
  • #17
jballer23 said:
hey i couldn't find any patterns that way. did you find anything?

Yeah, I worked them both out pretty quickly, just trying to help you along rather than give the answer. I don't know how else to help you without just saying the answer :/
 
  • #18
ok well i turned in the paper today hopefully it is right. the general form i came up with was like a scalar or 2^(n-1) (k^n+1 k^n-1)
(k^n-1 k^n+1)
 

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