1
$\begingroup$

Given two real numbers $0 and $0<\delta<1$, I want to find a positive integer $i$ (it is better to a smaller $i$) such that $$\frac{a^i}{i!} \le \delta.$$

  • 0
    Are you sure you want the minimum $i$ which will be hard to compute exactly? Or would you be happy with an $N$ such that any $i$ greater than $N$ would work (which is what you would need if you were looking at problem with limits).2012-05-14
  • 0
    If the minimum $i$ is too hard to find, then it is better to find an integer $i$ as small as possible2012-05-14
  • 0
    @draks, how to use Lambert-W-function? I am now obtaining the following inequality: $${(a\cdot e)}^i<\sqrt{2\pi}\delta i^{i+1/2}$$2012-05-14

2 Answers 2

2

Here is what I put together from my math toy box:

  1. Use Stirling's approximation $i!\approx(i/e)^i$ to get $\left( \frac{ae}{i}\right)^i \le \delta$.
  2. Call $ae=1/b$ and invert to get $(ib)^i\ge \delta^{-1}$.
  3. Continue with $(ib)^{ib}\ge \delta^{-b}$, define $x:=bi$ to get $x^x\ge\delta^{-b}$
  4. and then use $$ x\ge\frac{\ln(\delta^{-b})}{W(\ln \delta^{-b})}=\frac{\ln(\delta^{-1/ae})}{W(\ln \delta^{-1/ae})}. $$
  5. Resubstitute $x=\frac{i}{ae}$ for the result $i\ge\frac{ae\ln(\delta^{-1/ae})}{W(\ln \delta^{-1/ae})}$.
  • 0
    How to estimate $W(\cdot)$?2012-05-14
  • 0
    @JohnSmith, would the [Asymptotic expansion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_W_function#Asymptotic_expansions) $W_0 (x) = \sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{(-n)^{n-1}}{n!}\ x^n = x - x^2 + \frac{3}{2}x^3 - \frac{8}{3}x^4 + \frac{125}{24}x^5 - \cdots $ work for you?2012-05-14
  • 0
    Also, $i! \sim {(i/e)}^i$ doesn't mean $i! \ge {(i/e)}^i$. This problem can be easily fixed by using the upper bound of $i!$ of Stirling Approx., but how to calculate $W(\cdot)$ is a very important issue.2012-05-14
  • 0
    I think it's complicated to compute $W_0(x)$.2012-05-14
  • 0
    Is asking [Wolfram](http://tinyurl.com/cukkt8v) an option?2012-05-14
  • 0
    is there an easy way to find an upper bound of $W_0(x)$?2012-05-15
  • 1
    Ask your favorite [math knowlegde base](http://math.stackexchange.com/) and get [this](http://math.stackexchange.com/a/27372/19341): $\displaystyle \log x - \log \log x + \frac{1}{2}\frac{{\log \log x}}{{\log x}} \le W(x) \le \log x - \log \log x + \frac{e}{{e - 1}}\frac{{\log \log x}}{{\log x}}$. Does that help?2012-05-16
0

Here is a not-very-good answer. Let $i$ be the result of rounding $\log\delta/\log a$ up to the nearest integer. Then $i\ge\log\delta/\log a$, so $i\log a\le\log\delta$ (remember, $\log a\lt0$), so $a^i\le\delta$, so $a^i/i!\le\delta$.

  • 0
    $\frac{a^i}{i!}<{a^i}$ seems too loose. What if Stirling's Approx. is applied?2012-05-14
  • 0
    @JohnSmith: If you are programming, you can now just count downward in $i$ and check.2012-05-14
  • 0
    @JohnSmith: Stirling doesn't buy you much here: you will get i both in the base and in the exponent.2012-05-14