recurrence relation

<mathematics>

An equation that defines each element of a sequence in terms of one or more earlier elements. E.g. The Fibonacci sequence, 

 X[1] = 1
 X[2] = 1
 X[n] = X[n-1] + X[n-2]
Some recurrence relations can be converted to "closed form" where X[n] is defined purely in terms of n, without reference to earlier elements.

Last updated: 2008-01-14

Nearby terms:

Record Separator ♦ rectangle slinger ♦ recurrence relation ♦ recurse ♦ recursion

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