Stern Sequences for a Family of Multidimensional Continued Fractions: TRIP-Stern Sequences

Abstract

The Stern diatomic sequence is closely linked to continued fractions via the Gauss map on the unit interval, which in turn can be understood via systematic subdivisions of the unit interval. Higher dimensional analogues of continued fractions, called multidimensional continued fractions, can be produced through various subdivisions of a triangle. We define triangle partition-Stern sequences (TRIP-Stern sequences for short), higher-dimensional generalizations of the Stern diatomic sequence, from the method of subdividing a triangle via various triangle partition algorithms. We then explore several combinatorial results about TRIP-Stern sequences, which may be used to give rise to certain well-known sequences. We finish by generalizing TRIP-Stern sequences and presenting analogous results for these generalizations.