Stern–Brocot tree

E656695

The Stern–Brocot tree is an infinite binary tree that systematically lists all positive rational numbers in lowest terms exactly once, ordered by increasing value.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Stern–Brocot tree canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf infinite binary tree ⓘ
mathematical object ⓘ
algorithmicUse implementing binary search on rationals ⓘ
searching for rational approximations ⓘ
application Diophantine approximation ⓘ
computing best rational approximations to real numbers ⓘ
gear tooth design ⓘ
classification enumeration scheme for rational numbers ⓘ
constructionDetail children of adjacent fractions a/b and c/d are formed using mediant (a+c)/(b+d) ⓘ
each internal node has exactly two children ⓘ
constructionMethod mediant operation ⓘ
discoveredBy Moritz Stern ⓘ
edgeRepresents adjacency of fractions via mediant ⓘ
encoding paths correspond to continued fraction expansions ⓘ
paths correspond to sequences of left and right moves ⓘ
field combinatorics ⓘ
number theory ⓘ
independentlyDiscoveredBy Achille Brocot ⓘ
leftBoundary 0/1 ⓘ
lists positive rational numbers ⓘ
mathematicalCategory object in discrete mathematics ⓘ
namedAfter Achille Brocot ⓘ
Moritz Stern ⓘ
nodeRepresents reduced fraction ⓘ
ordering increasing value ⓘ
originalMotivation optimization of gear ratios ⓘ
property adjacent fractions a/b and c/d satisfy bc - ad = 1 ⓘ
each rational appears in lowest terms ⓘ
every positive rational appears at a unique node ⓘ
gives a complete enumeration of Q_{>0} ⓘ
lists each positive rational number exactly once ⓘ
no two distinct nodes represent the same rational number ⓘ
tree is ordered by increasing fraction value from left to right ⓘ
relatedStructure Calkin–Wilf tree ⓘ
Farey sequence ⓘ
continued fractions ⓘ
relationToContinuedFractions each rational’s path encodes its continued fraction ⓘ
relationToFareySequences adjacent fractions are Farey neighbors ⓘ
representation often drawn between sentinel fractions 0/1 and 1/0 ⓘ
rightBoundary 1/0 ⓘ
rootNode 1/1 ⓘ
searchProperty supports exact search for any positive rational via comparisons ⓘ
topology countably infinite set of nodes ⓘ
usedIn computer arithmetic algorithms ⓘ
data structures for rational search ⓘ
visualization binary tree on the projective line over Q ⓘ
yearIntroduced 1858 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Farey tessellation → relatedTo → Stern–Brocot tree ⓘ
Farey sequence → relatedTo → Stern–Brocot tree ⓘ