Lucas Polynomial Sequence

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A Lucas polynomial sequence is a pair of generalized polynomials which generalize the Lucas sequence to polynomials is given by

W_n^k(x)=(Delta^k(x)[a^n(x)-(-1)^kb^n(x)])/(Delta(x))
(1)
w_n^k(x)=Delta^k(x)[a^n(x)+(-1)^kb^n(x)],
(2)

where

a(x)+b(x)=p(x)
(3)
a(x)b(x)=-q(x).
(4)

Solving for a(x) and b(x) and taking the solution for a(x) with the + sign gives

 Delta(x)=a(x)-b(x)=sqrt(p^2(x)+4q(x))
(5)

(Horadam 1996). Setting n=0 gives

W_0^k(x)=Delta^k(x)(1-(-1)^k)/(Delta(x))
(6)
w_0^k(x)=Delta^k(x)[1+(-1)^k],
(7)

giving

W_0^0(x)=0
(8)
w_0^0(x)=2.
(9)

The sequences most commonly considered have k=0, giving

 W_n(x)=W_n^0(x)=(a^n(x)-b^n(x))/(a(x)-b(x)) 
=([p(x)+sqrt(p^2(x)+4q(x))]^n-[p(x)-sqrt(p^2(x)+4q(x))]^n)/(2^nsqrt(p^2(x)+4q(x))) 
w_n(x)=w_n^0(x)=a^n(x)+b^n(x) 
=([p(x)+sqrt(p^2(x)+4q(x))]^n+[p(x)-sqrt(p^2(x)+4q(x))]^n)/(2^n).
(10)

The w polynomials satisfy the recurrence relation

 w_n(x)=p(x)w_(n-1)(x)+q(x)w_(n-2)(x).
(11)

Special cases of the W(x) and w(x) polynomials are given in the following table.

p(x)q(x)W(x)w(x)
x1Fibonacci polynomial F_n(x)Lucas polynomial L_n(x)
2x1Pell polynomial P_n(x)Pell-Lucas polynomial Q_n(x)
12xJacobsthal polynomial J_n(x)Jacobsthal-Lucas polynomial j_n(x)
3x-2Fermat polynomial F_n(x)Fermat-Lucas polynomial f_n(x)
2x-1Chebyshev polynomial of the second kind U_(n-1)(x)Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind 2T_n(x)
x+1-x(x^n-1)/(x-1)x^n+1

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