Solve the recurrence T(n) = 4 T (n/2) + n! using master theorem

discrete mathematicsrecurrence-relationsrecursion

I have this copy of Master theorem.

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where n = size of the problem
a = number of subproblems in the recursion and a >= 1
n/b = size of each subproblem
b > 1, k >= 0 and p is a real number

Then,
if a > bk, then T(n) = θ(nlogba)
if a = bk, then
(a) if p > -1, then T(n) = θ(nlogba logp+1n)
(b) if p = -1, then T(n) = θ(nlogba loglogn)
(c) if p < -1, then T(n) = θ(nlogba)
if a < bk, then
(a) if p >= 0, then T(n) = θ(nk logpn)
(b) if p < 0, then T(n) = θ(nk)

I had an MCQ at this page which tells that this equation can be solved using master theorem but doesn't provide a solution.

Best Answer

The version of the master theorem you state cannot handle the recurrence $$ T(n) = 4T(n/2) + n!$$ as $n!$ does not satisfy a polynomial growth bound. In general, the $n!$ is so much bigger than the polynomial rest that it completely dominates, so one will have that $T(n) = \Theta(n!)$.

I'll note that more precise statements of the master theorem handle this. This is for example within case 3 of the Wikipedia version of the theorem.