TITLE: How does one solve this recurrence relation?
QUESTION [17 upvotes]: We have the following recursive system:
$$
\begin{cases}
& a_{n+1}=-2a_n -4b_n\\
& b_{n+1}=4a_n +6b_n\\
& a_0=1, b_0=0
\end{cases}
$$
and the 2005 mid-exam wants me to calculate answer of $ \frac{a_{20}}{a_{20}+b_{20}} $. 
Do you have any idea how to solve this recursive equation to reach a numerical value?

REPLY [7 votes]: We can write the recurrence relation in matrix form
$$\begin{bmatrix} a_{k+1}\\ b_{k+1}\end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix}-2 & -4\\ 4 & 6\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} a_{k}\\ b_{k}\end{bmatrix}$$
Hence,
$$\begin{bmatrix} a_{n}\\ b_{n}\end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix}-2 & -4\\ 4 & 6\end{bmatrix}^n \begin{bmatrix} a_{0}\\ b_{0}\end{bmatrix}$$
Unfortunately, the matrix is not diagonalizable. Its Jordan decomposition gives us
$$\begin{array}{rl}\begin{bmatrix} a_{n}\\ b_{n}\end{bmatrix} &= \begin{bmatrix}-1 & \frac{1}{4}\\ 1 & 0\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} 2 & 1\\ 0 & 2\end{bmatrix}^n \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 1\\ 4 & 4\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} a_{0}\\ b_{0}\end{bmatrix}\\\\ &= \begin{bmatrix}-1 & \frac{1}{4}\\ 1 & 0\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} 2^n & n \, 2^{n-1}\\ 0 & 2^n\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} b_{0}\\ 4 a_{0} + 4 b_{0}\end{bmatrix}\\\\ &= \begin{bmatrix} -2^n & (1 - 2n) \, 2^{n-2}\\ 2^n & n \, 2^{n-1}\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} b_{0}\\ 4 a_{0} + 4 b_{0}\end{bmatrix}\end{array}$$
If $a_0 = 1$, $b_0 = 0$ and $n = 20$,
$$\begin{bmatrix} a_{20}\\ b_{20}\end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} -2^{20} & -39 \cdot 2^{18}\\ 2^{20} & 20 \cdot 2^{19}\end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} 0\\ 2^2\end{bmatrix} = 2^{20} \begin{bmatrix} -39\\ 40\end{bmatrix}$$
Thus,
$$\dfrac{a_{20}}{a_{20} + b_{20}} = \dfrac{-39}{-39 + 40} = -39$$