Exercise 4.4.4

Use a reccursion tree to determine a good asymptotic upper bound on the recurrence $T(n) = 2T(n - 1) + 1$. Use the substitution method to verify your answer.

The depth is $n$, each level is $2^i$ and there are $2^n$ leaves. Thus:

$$ T(n) = \sum_{i=0}^{n-1}2^i + \Theta(2^n) = \frac{2^n - 1}{2 - 1} + \Theta(2^n) = \Theta(2^n) + 2^n - 1 = \Theta(2^n) $$

We guess $T(n) \le c2^n + n$. Thus:

$$ \begin{aligned} T(n) & \le 2c2^{n-1} + (n - 1) + 1 \\ & \le c2^n + n \\ & = O(2^n) \end{aligned} $$