Metallic mean

Gold, silver, and bronze ratios within their respective rectangles.

The metallic mean (also metallic ratio, metallic constant, or noble means^[1]) of a natural number n is a positive real number, denoted here ${\displaystyle S_{n},}$ that satisfies the following equivalent characterizations:

• the unique positive real number ${\displaystyle x}$ such that ${\textstyle x=n+{\frac {1}{x}}}$
• the positive root of the quadratic equation ${\displaystyle x^{2}-nx-1=0}$
• the number ${\textstyle {\frac {n+{\sqrt {n^{2}+4}}}{2}}}$
• the number whose expression as a continued fraction is

  ${\displaystyle [n;n,n,n,n,\dots ]=n+{\cfrac {1}{n+{\cfrac {1}{n+{\cfrac {1}{n+{\cfrac {1}{n+\ddots \,}}}}}}}}}$

Metallic means are generalizations of the golden ratio (${\displaystyle n=1}$) and silver ratio (${\displaystyle n=2}$), and share some of their interesting properties. The term "bronze ratio" (${\displaystyle n=3}$), and terms using other metals names (such as copper or nickel), are occasionally used to name subsequent metallic means.^{[2] [3]}

In terms of algebraic number theory, the metallic means are exactly the real quadratic integers that are greater than ${\displaystyle 1}$ and have ${\displaystyle -1}$ as their norm.

The defining equation ${\displaystyle x^{2}-nx-1=0}$ of the nth metallic mean is the characteristic equation of a linear recurrence relation of the form ${\displaystyle x_{k}=nx_{k-1}+x_{k-2}.}$ It follows that, given such a recurrence the solution can be expressed as

${\displaystyle x_{k}=aS_{n}^{k}+b\left({\frac {-1}{S_{n}}}\right)^{k},}$

where ${\displaystyle S_{n}}$ is the nth metallic mean, and a and b are constants depending only on ${\displaystyle x_{0}}$ and ${\displaystyle x_{1}.}$ Since the inverse of a metallic mean is less than 1, this formula implies that the quotient of two consecutive elements of such a sequence tends to the metallic mean, when k tends to the infinity.

For example, if ${\displaystyle n=1,}$ ${\displaystyle S_{n}}$ is the golden ratio. If ${\displaystyle x_{0}=0}$ and ${\displaystyle x_{1}=1,}$ the sequence is the Fibonacci sequence, and the above formula is Binet's formula. If ${\displaystyle n=1,x_{0}=2,x_{1}=1}$ one has the Lucas numbers. If ${\displaystyle n=2,}$ the metallic mean is called the silver ratio, and the elements of the sequence starting with ${\displaystyle x_{0}=0}$ and ${\displaystyle x_{1}=1}$ are called the Pell numbers. The third metallic mean is sometimes called the "bronze ratio".

Geometry

Golden ratio within the pentagram (φ = red/ green = green/blue = blue/purple) and silver ratio within the octagon.

The defining equation ${\textstyle x=n+{\frac {1}{x}}}$ of the nth metallic mean induces the following geometrical interpretation.

Consider a rectangle such that the ratio of its length L to its width W is the nth metallic ratio. If one remove from this rectangle n squares of side length W, one gets a rectangle similar to the original rectangle; that is, a rectangle with the same ratio of the length to the width (see figures).

The nth metallic ratio is the arithmetic mean of the hypothenuse and the shortest leg of a right triangle with side lengths of 2 and n. This results from the value ${\displaystyle {\frac {n+{\sqrt {n^{2}+4}}}{2}}}$ and the Pythagorean theorem.

Some metallic means appear as segments in the figure formed by a regular polygon and its diagonals. This is in particular the case for the golden ratio and the pentagon, and for the silver ratio and the octagon see figures

Powers

Denoting by ${\displaystyle S_{m}}$ the metallic mean of m one has

${\displaystyle S_{m}^{n}=K_{n}S_{m}+K_{n-1},}$

where the numbers ${\displaystyle K_{n}}$ are defined recursively by the initial conditions K₀ = 0 and K₁ = 1, and the recurrence relation

${\displaystyle K_{n}=mK_{n-1}+K_{n-2}.}$

Proof: The equality is immediately true for ${\displaystyle n=1.}$ The recurrence relation implies ${\displaystyle K_{2}=m,}$ which makes the equality true for ${\displaystyle k=2.}$ Supposing the equality true up to ${\displaystyle n-1,}$ one has

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}S_{m}^{n}&=mS_{m}^{n-1}+S_{m}^{n-2}&&{\text{(defining equation)}}\\&=m(K_{n-1}S_{n}+K_{n-2})+(K_{n-2}S_{m}+K_{n-3})&&{\text{(recurrence hypothesis)}}\\&=(mK_{n-1}+K_{n-2})S_{n}+(mK_{n-2}+K_{n-3})&&{\text{(regrouping)}}\\&=K_{n}S_{m}+K_{n-1}&&{\text{(recurrence on }}K_{n}).\end{aligned}}}$

End of the proof.

One has also ^{[citation needed]}

${\displaystyle K_{n}={\frac {S_{m}^{n+1}-(m-S_{m})^{n+1}}{\sqrt {m^{2}+4}}}.}$

The odd powers of a metallic mean are themselves metallic means. More precisely, if n is an odd natural number, then ${\displaystyle S_{m}^{n}=S_{M_{n}},}$ where ${\displaystyle M_{n}}$ is defined by the recurrence relation ${\displaystyle M_{n}=mM_{n-1}+M_{n-2}}$ and the initial conditions ${\displaystyle M_{0}=2}$ and ${\displaystyle M_{1}=m.}$

Proof: Let ${\displaystyle a=S_{m}}$ and ${\displaystyle b=-1/S_{m}.}$ The definition of metallic means implies that ${\displaystyle a+b=m}$ and ${\displaystyle ab=-1.}$ Let ${\displaystyle M_{n}=a^{n}+b^{n}.}$ Since ${\displaystyle a^{n}b^{n}=(ab)^{n}=-1}$ if n is odd, the power ${\displaystyle a^{n}}$ is a root of ${\displaystyle x^{2}-M_{n}-1=0.}$ So, it remains to prove that ${\displaystyle M_{n}}$ is an integer that satisfies the given recurrence relation. This results from the identity

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}a^{n}+b^{n}&=(a+b)(a^{n-1}+b^{n-1})-ab(a^{n-2}+a^{n-2})\\&=m(a^{n-1}+b^{n-1})+(a^{n-2}+a^{n-2}).\end{aligned}}}$

This completes the proof, given that the initial values are easy to verify.

In particular, one has

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}S_{m}^{3}&=S_{m^{3}+3m}\\S_{m}^{5}&=S_{m^{5}+5m^{3}+5m}\\S_{m}^{7}&=S_{m^{7}+7m^{5}+14m^{3}+7m}\\S_{m}^{9}&=S_{m^{9}+9m^{7}+27m^{5}+30m^{3}+9m}\\S_{m}^{11}&=S_{m^{11}+11m^{9}+44m^{7}+77m^{5}+55m^{3}+11m}\end{aligned}}}$

and, in general,^{[citation needed]}

${\displaystyle S_{m}^{2n+1}=S_{M},}$

where

${\displaystyle M=\sum _{k=0}^{n}{{2n+1} \over {2k+1}}{{n+k} \choose {2k}}m^{2k+1}.}$

For even powers, things are more complicate. If n is a positive even integer then^{[citation needed]}

${\displaystyle {S_{m}^{n}-\left\lfloor S_{m}^{n}\right\rfloor }=1-S_{m}^{-n}.}$

Additionally,^{[citation needed]}

${\displaystyle {1 \over {S_{m}^{4}-\left\lfloor S_{m}^{4}\right\rfloor }}+\left\lfloor S_{m}^{4}-1\right\rfloor =S_{\left(m^{4}+4m^{2}+1\right)}}$

${\displaystyle {1 \over {S_{m}^{6}-\left\lfloor S_{m}^{6}\right\rfloor }}+\left\lfloor S_{m}^{6}-1\right\rfloor =S_{\left(m^{6}+6m^{4}+9m^{2}+1\right)}.}$

Generalization

One may define the metallic mean ${\displaystyle S_{-n}}$ of a negative integer −n as the positive solution of the equation ${\displaystyle x^{2}-(-n)-1.}$ The metallic mean of −n is the multiplicative inverse of the metallic mean of n:

${\displaystyle S_{-n}={\frac {1}{S_{n}}}.}$

Another generalization consists of changing the defining equation from ${\displaystyle x^{2}-nx-1=0}$ to ${\displaystyle x^{2}-nx-c=0}$. If

${\displaystyle R={\frac {n\pm {\sqrt {n^{2}+4c}}}{2}},}$

is any root of the equation, one has

${\displaystyle R-n={\frac {c}{R}}.}$

The silver mean of m is also given by the integral^{[citation needed]}

${\displaystyle S_{m}=\int _{0}^{m}{\left({x \over {2{\sqrt {x^{2}+4}}}}+{{m+2} \over {2m}}\right)}\,dx.}$

Another form of the metallic mean is^{[citation needed]}

${\displaystyle {\frac {n+{\sqrt {n^{2}+4}}}{2}}=e^{\operatorname {arsinh(n/2)} }.}$

Numerical values

See also

• Constant
• Mean
• Ratio
• Plastic ratio

Notes

References

Further reading

• Stakhov, Alekseĭ Petrovich (2009). The Mathematics of Harmony: From Euclid to Contemporary Mathematics and Computer Science, p. 228, 231. World Scientific. ISBN 9789812775832.

External links

• Cristina-Elena Hrețcanu and Mircea Crasmareanu (2013). "Metallic Structures on Riemannian Manifolds", Revista de la Unión Matemática Argentina.
• Rakočević, Miloje M. "Further Generalization of Golden Mean in Relation to Euler's 'Divine' Equation", Arxiv.org.

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Metallic means

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