Zeckendorf's theorem

In mathematics, Zeckendorf's theorem, named after Belgian amateur mathematician Edouard Zeckendorf, is a theorem about the representation of integers as sums of Fibonacci numbers.

Zeckendorf's theorem states that every positive integer can be represented uniquely as the sum of one or more distinct Fibonacci numbers in such a way that the sum does not include any two consecutive Fibonacci numbers. More precisely, if N is any positive integer, there exist positive integers c_i ≥ 2, with c_i + 1 > c_i + 1, such that

${\displaystyle N=\sum _{i=0}^{k}F_{c_{i}},}$

where F_n is the n^th Fibonacci number. Such a sum is called the Zeckendorf representation of N. The Fibonacci coding of N can be derived from its Zeckendorf representation.

For example, the Zeckendorf representation of 64 is

64 = 55 + 8 + 1.

There are other ways of representing 64 as the sum of Fibonacci numbers

64 = 55 + 5 + 3 + 1

64 = 34 + 21 + 8 + 1

64 = 34 + 21 + 5 + 3 + 1

64 = 34 + 13 + 8 + 5 + 3 + 1

but these are not Zeckendorf representations because 34 and 21 are consecutive Fibonacci numbers, as are 5 and 3.

For any given positive integer, its Zeckendorf representation can be found by using a greedy algorithm, choosing the largest possible Fibonacci number at each stage.