A coin flip game and generalizations of Fibonacci numbers
We study a game in which one keeps flipping a coin until a given finite string of heads and tails occurs. We find the expected number of coin flips to end the game when the ending string consists of at most four maximal runs of heads or tails or alternates between heads and tails. This leads to some summation identities involving certain generalizations of the Fibonacci numbers.
Authors
- Jia Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9439-0067)
Institutions
- University of Nebraska at Kearney (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Fibonacci Quarterly
- Published
- 2026-08-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00150517.2026.2676044
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Mathematical Theories and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00