Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
1. It is here expedient to ignore the continued fractions from which they are usually derived and to define the simple continuants determined by the parameters a1, a2, a3, …, an, … as given by the chain of difference equations
together with the initial values u0 = 0, u1 = 1: and these data lead successively to the functions
and
* Here and later where no ambiguity would arise the tabular continuant symbol [p, q] will be written in the attenuated form pq. The empty square brackets are reminders of the omission.