Math Elec 6 Number Theory

Lecture 03 - Induction and Pigeonhole Principles

Julius D. Selle

Lecture Objectives
(1) Formulate mathematical conjectures out of numerical patterns;
(2) State, prove, and apply the principle of mathematical induction and pigeonhole principle; and,
(3) Extend these principles to accommodate certain conditions of proving.

The primary objective of number theory is to find properties of numbers, most especially for
natural numbers, and to prove them. Proofs of mathematical statements might range from very
easy to extremely hard, depending on the level of mathematics required to deal with the problem.
However, no matter the level of difficulty, proofs follow a few “basic structures” that we can under-
stand. Mastering them will surely help us in preparing proofs for theorems that we will meet in the
future.
In addition to the usual methods of proof which you have learned in the previous semesters
(such as direct, indirect, contraposition, contradiction, exhaustion, counter-example, etc.), we will
cover in this lecture two more methods of proofs popular in many number-theoretic statements: the
induction and pigeonhole principles.
In this lecture, we will study examples numerical patterns and form conjectures about them.
Then, we will prove these conjectures using the two principles mentioned. Parts of the discussions
were derived from [1] and [2].

1 Formulation of Some Basic Mathematical Patterns

Guessing is always part of learning mathematics. We observe patterns and attempt to generalize
them. This “guess” generalization is called a conjecture. When this conjecture is formed, we then
proceed to proving it using various techniques.
Proving conjectures will be done in the next section. Here, we will be formulating conjectures of
simple sums and products. We consider the following sum as an example:
n
X
(2k + 1) = 1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + (2n + 1).
k=0

Here, our aim is to establish an explicit formulation of this sum. Let us first observe the first few
values:
(n = 0) 1 1
(n = 1) 1+3 4
(n = 2) 1+3+5 9
(n = 3) 1+3+5+7 16
..
.

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 One may obviously guess that
n
X
(2k + 1) = 1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + (2n + 1) = (n + 1)2 .
k=0

Here we have introduced the most basic way of drawing conjectures: by inference through observation
of first few values.

Example 3. 1. Evaluate the first few values (for n = 0, 1, 2, . . .) of the following sum until a pattern
is clear. Then, give an explicit formulation.
n  
X n
.
r=0
r

Solution. We evaluate for n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4

 
0
=1
0
   
1 1
+ =1+1=2
0 1
     
2 2 2
+ + =1+2+1=4
0 1 2
       
3 3 3 3
+ + + =1+3+3+1=8
0 1 2 3
         
4 4 4 4 4
+ + + + = 1 + 4 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 16
0 1 2 3 4
From the above equations, it can be observed that
n  
X n
= 2n .
r=0
r

Sometimes, it is difficult to generate formulations just by detecting patterns out of first few terms.
For example, the summation
Xn
k = 1 + 2 + 3 + ··· + n
k=1
has first few terms,
1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, . . .
which may not be clear at first. Now, we introduce a method of generating conjectures. From the
first few terms above, we construct a sequence of the differences between a term and its previous
terms. We call this the first-degree difference sequence.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, . . .

We repeat the process until we get a constant sequence. For example, here, we need the second-degree
difference sequence:
1, 1, 1, 1, . . .
In general, if the nth-degree difference sequence is the constant sequence, then the terms of the
original sequence may be computed explicitly by

an xn + an−1 xn−1 + an−2 xn−2 + · · · + a0 .

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The next problem is to solve for a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . , an .
Since the constant sequence was achieved at the second degree, we have

ax2 + bx + c.

From the original sequence,

a(1)2 + b(1) + c = a + b + c = 1 (1)

2
a(2) + b(2) + c = 4a + 2b + c = 3 (2)
2
a(3) + b(3) + c = 9a + 3b + c = 6 (3)

(The number of equations considered is based on the number of unknown coefficients a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . , an .)

In this example, we solve simultaneously:
Subtracting (1) from (2):
3a + b = 2
and (2) from (3):
5a + b = 3.
Subtracting this two, we obtain
2a = 1
so that
1
a= .
2
Substituting, we have
 
1
3 +b=2
2
3
b=2−
2
1
b= .
2
Finally, using Eq. (1),
1 1
+ +c=1
2 2
c = 0.

This means that our equation is

1 2 1 n(n + 1)
n + n= .
2 2 2
Exercise. Do the same method to formulate
Pn 2 2 2 2 2
(1) k=1 k = 1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + n
Pn 3 3 3 3 3
(2) k=1 k = 1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + n
Pn
(3) k=0 (2k + 1) = 1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + (2n + 1)

This method is useful although it may not necessarily be working for some other types of se-
quences.

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2 Principle of Mathematical Induction
The summations we have formulated above are examples of what are called conjectures. A conjec-
ture, is a mathematical statement which is true for all known cases, but is not proven in general.
To validate our formulas, we have to prove them. For conjectures involving the set of all natural
numbers, the principle of mathematical induction can be of use.
We start with one of the most basic properties of the set of natural numbers: the well-ordering
property in N.
The Well-Ordering Property. Every non-empty subset of N has a least element.
In other words, if S ⊂ N, then there exists n0 ∈ S such that n0 ≤ n for all n ∈ S. The well-
ordering property simply states that for every collection of some natural numbers, there is always an
element in this collection that is lesser than all others. There are formal proofs of the well-ordering
property such as the one demonstrated in [3]. However, we skip the proof in this lecture.
The most important role of the well-ordering property is that it is the key to proving an im-
portant algorithm in proving statements involving the set of all natural numbers: the principle of
mathematical induction.
Theorem 3. 1 (Principle of Mathematical Induction). Let S ⊂ N. Then, if
(i) 0 ∈ S; and,
(ii) k ∈ S implies k + 1 ∈ S,
then S = N.
Proof. Let S ⊂ N. Suppose 0 ∈ S and suppose that if k ∈ S, k + 1 ∈ S.
We prove by contradiction. We assume that S 6= N. This means that there are natural numbers
that are not in S. Let S 0 be such set (i.e., the set of all natural numbers that are not in S). Of
course, S 0 ⊂ N so that by well-ordering, S 0 has a least element m. Since m − 1 < m, m − 1 ∈ / S0
implying that m − 1 ∈ S.
But, if m − 1 ∈ S, (m − 1) + 1 = m ∈ S. We arrived at a contradiction. Therefore, S = N.
The principle of mathematical induction is often compared to the popular theory of “domino
effect”. In a domino effect, two conditions are necessary: first, there must be an initial force to
push the first domino (corresponding to the initial condition 0 ∈ S), and second, each domino must
not be too far away from the next to push it after it falls (corresponding to the inductive condition
k ∈ S implies k + 1 ∈ S).
Next, we apply this principle in proving our conjectures involving all natural numbers. To do
this, we follow the following algorithm:
Let P (n) be some statement about a natural number n.
Step 1 (Initial step) Show that P (0) (or P (1)) is true.
Step 2 (Inductive step)
(i) Assume that P (j) is true for some j ∈ N.
(ii) Show that P (j + 1) is true.
If all these are satisfied, then we can conclude that P (n) is true for all n ∈ N.
Example 3. 2. Use induction to prove that
n
X
(2k + 1) = (n + 1)2
k=0

for all n ∈ N.

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Solution. (i) (Initial step) For n = 0, we have
0
X
(2k + 1) = 1
k=0

and (0 + 1)2 = 12 = 1. Thus the summation is true for n = 0.

(ii) (Inductive step) Suppose for some j ∈ N,
j
X
(2k + 1) = (j + 1)2 .
k=0

Pj+1
(Here, we expect to show that k=0 (2k + 1) = [(j + 1) + 1]2 .) Then,
j+1
X
(2k + 1) = 1 + 3 + 5 + · · · + (2j + 1) + [2(j + 1) + 1]
k=0
j
X
= (2k + 1) + [2(j + 1) + 1]
k=0
= (j + 1)2 + [2(j + 1) + 1]
= j 2 + 2j + 1 + 2j + 2 + 1
= j 2 + 4j + 4
= (j + 2)2
= [(j + 1) + 1]2

This completes our proof.

Example 3. 3. Use induction to prove that
n
X n(n + 1)
k=
2
k=1

for all n ∈ N.
Solution. For n = 1 (note that we did not start with n = 0),
1
X
k=1
k=1

and
1(1 + 1)
= 1.
2
Therefore, the statement is true for n = 1. Suppose for some j ∈ N,
j
X j(j + 1)
k= .
2
k=1

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Then, for j + 1,
j+1
X
k = 1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + j + (j + 1)
k=1
j
X
= k + (j + 1)
k=1
j(j + 1)
= + (j + 1)
2
j 2 + 3j + 2
=
2
(j + 1)[(j + 1) + 1]
=
2
Therefore,
n
X n(n + 1)
k=
2
k=1

for all n ∈ N.
Exercise. Use induction to prove that the following formulas are true for all n ∈ N.
Pn n(n + 1)(2n + 1)
(1) k=1 k2 =
6
Pn n


(2) r=0 r = 2n

The following other statements (taken from [4]) can also be proven using induction.
Exercise.
(1) For all n ∈ Z+ , n + 1 ≤ 2n .

(2) For all n ∈ N, 32n − 1 is divisible by 8.

d n
(3) x = nxn−1 for all n ∈ Z+
dx

3 The Pigeonhole Principle

The Pigeonhole Principle, sometimes called the Dirichlet Theorem, is a simple theorem named after
the 19th Century German mathematician G.L. Dirichlet. The theorem has a useful generalization
and is applied elegantly to different problems. It comes basically from the idea that if there are more
pigeons than pigeonholes, then at least one of the pigeonholes must contain at least two pigeons.
The discussions in this section are based on Chapter 6 of [5].
Theorem 3. 2 (Pigeonhole Principle). If k is a positive integer and k + 1 objects are placed into k
boxes, then there is at least one box containing two or more of the objects.
Proof. We prove by contraposition. Suppose none of the k boxes contains more than 1 object. Then
there are at most k objects. Hence, that there are at least k + 1 objects is false. This completes the
proof by contraposition.
To formalize this theorem in terms of functions, we present the following corollary.

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Theorem 3. 3. A function f : A → B where A and B are finite sets with at least k + 1 and k
elements, respectively, is not one-to-one.
Proof. Let A and B be finite sets with at least k+1 and k elements, respectively. Suppose f : A → B
is one-to-one. Since there are at least k + 1 pre-image elements to be mapped into k image elements,
the pigeonhole principle implies that at least two pre-image elements maps to at least one image
element. Therefore, f is not one-to-one.
Basic examples of the use of the pigeonhole principle are given in the following.
Example 3. 4. (1) There are 13 people inside a room. Then, there are at least two people with the
same birth month.
(2) In a pet show, 15 dog owners participated bringing 18 dogs. Then, at least one owner owns at
least two dogs.
Example 3. 5. What is the minimum number of students in a class so that it can be guaranteed
that at least two of them have the same starting letter in their first name? (Assuming all letters are
from the English alphabet.)
Solution. Since there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, there must be at least 27 students.
The following example is one elegant application of the pigeonhole principle to number the-
ory. Notice that the following example involves the set of all positive integers but is proven using
pigeonhole principle and not by induction.
Example 3. 6. Show that for every positive integer n , there is a multiple of n that has only 0s and
1s in its decimal expansion.
Solution. Consider the set of n + 1 integers S = {1, 11, 111, . . . , 11 . . . 1} where the last element
is an integer composed of n + 1 1s. When any integer is divided by n, then there are n possible
remainders: 0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 1. Since there are n + 1 integers in S, by pigeonhole principle, at least
two of these integers have the same remainder when divided by n, say q and r, with q > r, without
loss of generality. Then, q − r is a multiple of n, which has a decimal expansion composed entirely
of 0s and 1s.
Now we generalize the pigeonhole principle to handle cases where the number of objects is more
than some multiple of of the number of boxes. In this case, we could draw a stronger conclusion
where at least one box may contain more than 2 objects.
Theorem 3. 4 (Generalized Pigeonhole  Principle).
 If there are N objects inside k boxes, then there
N
is at least one box containing at least objects.
k
A remark on the notation used here, the least integer function dxe (read as “ceiling of x”) is the
least integer greater than or equal to x. For example, d1.2e = 2, d123e = 123, d−1.3e = −1.
 
N
Proof. We will prove by contraposition. Suppose there is no box containing at least objects.
  k
N
Then every box contains at most − 1 objects. Since there are k boxes, there are at most
k
  
N
k −1
k
objects. Now, 
    
N N
k −1 <k + 1 − 1 = N.
k k
(We used the inequality dxe < x + 1.) This completes the proof by contraposition.

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 The generalized pigeonhole principle is used for problems asking for the minimum number N of
objects such that r of these objects must be in one of k boxes. For this case, N = k(r − 1) + 1. When
N is given, the generalized pigeonhole principle also gives that there is at least one box containing
a minimum of r objects with r = dN/ke.
Example 3. 7. (1) In a classroom with 50 students, there are at least
 
50
=5
12

who have the same birth month.

(2) If there are 20 kids in a park and 8 parents watching them, then at least
 
20
=3
8

of the kids are siblings.

Example 3. 8. A lawyer meets his clients during weekdays. What is the minimum number of clients
needed to guarantee that there is one day that he meets at least four clients?

Solution. Since there are k = 5 days, then, there must be at least

N = (5)(4 − 1) + 1 = 16

clients to meet during the week.

References
[1] S. T. Ross, A first course in probability theory. Pearson, 2017.
[2] K. T. Rosen, Elementary number theory and its applications. Pearson, 2011.
[3] NPTEL, “Well ordering principle and the principle of mathematical induction,” 2013.

[4] L. N. Childs, A concrete introduction to higher algebra, Second Edition. Springer, 1995.
[5] K. T. Rosen, Discrete mathematics and its applications, Seventh Edition. Pearson, 2012.

Evaluation
A. Basic Concepts (2 points each)
(1) What are conjectures? How do we generate them?
(2) Why is the principle of mathematical induction likened to the “domino effect”?
(3) Compose a problem that can be solved using pigeonhole principle.
B. Problem Solving (5 points each)
(1) Formulate the following summation:
n
X
k(k 2 − 1).
k=1

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 (2) Prove your formula in the previous item using principle of mathematical induction.
(3) Suppose a class has 9 students.
(a) Show that the class must have at least 5 males or at least 5 females.
(b) Show that the class must have at least 3 males or at least 7 females.
C. Theoretical Work (10 points each)
(1) Use properties of summation to formulate
n
X
k(k 2 − 1)
k=1

without using the method given in this lecture.

(2) Prove, using the principle of mathematical induction, the algorithm in Page 4.

Notes
(1) Stating and proving the induction and pigeonhole principles will be part of the next quiz.