Three methods to generate the sequence b(n): (Codes in Mathematica format) 1) b(n) = b(n-1) + b(n-2) - b(n-3) + b(n-5), with b(0) = 0, b(1) = 1, b(2) = 1, b(3) = 2 and b(4) = 2 LinearRecurrence[{1, 1, -1, 0, 1}, {0, 1, 1, 2, 2}, 50] 2) vector matrix (Markov): m = {{0, 1, 0, 0, 0}, {0, 0, 1, 0, 0}, {0, 0, 0, 1, 0}, {0, 0, 0, 0, 1}, {1, 0, -1, 1, 1}}; CharacteristicPolynomial[m, x]; v[0] := {0, 1, 1, 2, 2}; v[n_] := v[n] = m.v[n - 1]; Table[v[n][[1]], {n, 0, 50}] 3) polynomial expansion: p[x_] := -(1 - x^2 + x^3 + x^4 - x^5); q[x_] := ExpandAll[x^4*p[1/x]]; Table[SeriesCoefficient[Series[1/q[x], {x, 0, 50}], m], {m, 0, 50}]