On A Class of Sums Involving The Floor Function: Titu Andreescu and Dorin Andrica

On a class of sums involving the oor function
Titu Andreescu and Dorin Andrica

For a real number x there is a unique integer n such that n x < n+1.
We say that n is the greatest integer less than or equal to x or the oor of
x. We denote n = x|. The dierence x x| is called the fractional part
of x and is denoted by x.
The integer x| + 1 is called the ceiling of x and is denoted by x|. For
example,
2.1| = 2 2.1 = .1 2.1| = 3
3.9| = 4 3.9 = .1 3.9| = 3
The following properties are useful:
1) If a and b are integers, b > 0, and q is the quotient when a is divided
by b, then q =
_
a
b
_
.
2) For any real number x and any integer n, x + n| = x| + n and
x + n| = x| + n.
3) For any positive real number x and any positive integer n the number
of positive multiples of n not exceeding x is
_
x
n
_
.
4) For any real number x and any positive integer n,
_
x|
n
_
=
_
x
n
_
.
We will prove the last two properties. For 3) consider all multiples
1 n, 2 n, . . . , k n, where k n x < (k + 1)n. That is k
x
n
< k + 1
and the conclusion follows. For 4) denote x| = m and x = . From the
Division Algorithm and property 1) above it follows that m = n
_
m
n
_
+ r,
where 0 r n 1. We obtain 0 r + n 1 + < n, that is
_
r +
n
_
= 0 and
_
x
n
_
=
_
m +
n
_
=
_
_
m
n
_
+
r +
n
_
=
_
m
n
_
+
_
r +
n
_
=
_
m
n
_
=
_
x|
n
_
.
1
The following result is helpful in proving many relations involving the
oor function.
Theorem. Let p be an odd prime and let q be an integer that is not
divisible by p. If f : Z
+
R is a function such that:
i)
f(k)
p
is not an integer, k = 1, 2, . . . , p 1;
ii) f(k) + f(p k) is an integer divisible by p, k = 1, 2, . . . , p 1, then
p1
k=1
_
f(k)
q
p
_
=
q
p
p1
k=1
f(k)
p 1
2
. (1)
Proof. From ii) it follows that
qf(k)
p
+
qf(p k)
p
Z (2)
and from i) we obtain that
qf(k)
p
, Z and
qf(p k)
p
, Z, k = 1, . . . , p 1,
hence
0 <
_
qf(k)
p
_
+
_
qf(p k)
p
_
< 2.
But, from (1),
_
qf(k)
p
_
+
_
qf(p k)
p
_
Z, thus
_
qf(k)
p
_
+
_
qf(p k)
p
_
= 1, k = 1, . . . , p 1.
Summing up and dividing by 2 yields
p1
k=1
_
q
p
f(k)
_
=
p 1
2
.
It follows that
p1
k=1
q
p
f(k)
p1
k=1
_
q
p
f(k)
_
=
p 1
2
and the conclusion follows.
Application 1. The function f(x) = x satises both i) and ii) in
Theorem, hence
p1
k=1
_
k
q
p
_
=
q
p

(p 1)p
2

p 1
2
,
Mathematical Reflections 3, (2006) 2
that is
p1
k=1
_
k
q
p
_
=
(p 1)(q 1)
2
(Gauss). (3)
Remark. From the proof of our Theorem, it follows that the above
formula holds for any relatively prime integers p and q.
Application 2. The function f(x) = x
3
also satises conditions i) and
ii), hence
p1
k=1
_
k
3
q
p
_
=
q
p

(p 1)
2
p
2
4

p 1
2
=
(p 1)(p
2
q pq 2)
4
. (4)
For q = 1 we obtain the 2002 German Mathematical Olympiad problem:
p1
k=1
_
k
3
p
_
=
(p 2)(p 1)(p + 1)
4
. (5)
Application 3. For f : Z
+
R, f(s) = (1)
s
s
2
, conditions i) and ii)
in our Theorem are both satised. We obtain
p1
k=1
_
(1)
k
k
2
q
p
_
=
q
p
(1
2
+ 2
2
. . . + (p 1)
2
)
p 1
2
=
q
p

p(p 1)
2

p 1
2
,
hence
p1
k=1
_
(1)
k
k
2
q
p
_
=
(p 1)(q 1)
2
. (6)
Remark. By taking q = 1 we get
p1
k=1
_
(1)
k
k
2
p
_
= 0.
Using now the identity x| = 1x|, x RZ, the last display takes
the form
p1
k=1
(1)
k
_
k
2
p
_
=
1 p
2
. (7)
Application 4. Similarly, applying our Theorem to f : Z
+
R, f(s) =
(1)
s
s
4
yields
p1
k=1
_
(1)
k
k
4
q
p
_
=
q(p 1)(p
2
p 1)
2

p 1
2
. (8)
Taking q = 1 gives
p1
k=1
_
(1)
k
k
4
p
_
=
(p 2)(p 1)(p + 1)
2
. (9)
Application 5. For f(s) =
s
p
p
, conditions i) and ii) in our Theorem are
also satised and for q = 1 we obtain
p1
k=1
_
k
p
p
2
_
=
1
p
p1
k=1
k
p
p

p 1
2
=
1
p
2
_
p1
k=1
k
p
p(p 1)
2
_
,
hence
p1
k=1
_
k
p
p
2
_
=
1
2
p1
k=1
k
p
k
p
. (10)
Formula (10) shows that half of the sum of the quotients obtained when
k
p
k is divided by p (Fermats Little Theorem) is equal to the sum of the
quotients obtained when k
p
is divided by p
2
, k = 1, 2, . . . , p 1.
References
[1] Andreescu, T., Andrica, D., Number Theory and its Mathematical
Structures, Birkhauser, Boston-Basel-Berlin (to appear).
University of Texas at Dallas
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Richardson, TX 75080
e-mail: [email protected]
Babes-Bolyai University
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
e-mail: [email protected]

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On a class of sums involving the oor function

Titu Andreescu and Dorin Andrica

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