A new family of \(k\)-Fibonacci numbers (Q961646)

Fibonacci numbers may be defined for \(i\geq 0\) by the Binet formula: \[ F_n= (\alpha^n- \beta^n)/\sqrt{5},\tag{1} \] where \(\alpha= (1+\sqrt{5})/2\), \(\beta= (1-\sqrt{5})/2\). (The authors use a variant of (1), replacing \(n\) by \(n+1\) in the right member of (1).) In this paper, the authors define a generalization of Fibonacci numbers, defined as follows: If \(n\), \(k\) are positive integers with \(n= mk+ r\), \(0\leq r< k\), then \[ F^{(k)}_n= (\sqrt{5})^{-k} (\alpha^{m+2}- \beta^{m+2})^r (\alpha^{m+1}- \beta^{m+1})^{k-r}. \] These ``generalized \(k\)-Fibonacci numbers'' are related to ordinary Fibonacci numbers via the formula \[ F^{(k)}_n= F^{k-r}_m F^r_{m+1}. \] The authors obtain various identities satisfied by the \(F^{(k)}_n\).