English

Discriminators of quadratic polynomials

Number Theory 2013-08-20 v1

Abstract

Given fZ[x]f \in \mathbb{Z}[x] and nZ+n \in \mathbb{Z^{+}}, the discriminator\emph{discriminator} Df(n)D_f(n) is the smallest positive integer mm such that f(1),,f(n)f(1), \ldots, f(n) are distinct mod mm. In a recent paper, Z.-W. Sun proved that Df(n)=dlogdnD_f(n) = d^{\lceil \log_d n \rceil} if f(x)=x(dx1)f(x) = x(dx - 1) for d{2,3}d \in \{2, 3\}. We extend this result to d=2rd = 2^r for any rZ+r \in \mathbb{Z}^{+} and find that Df(n)=2log2nD_f(n) = 2^{\lceil \log_2 n \rceil} in this case. We also provide more general statements for d=prd = p^r, where pp is a prime. In addition, we present a potential method for generating prime numbers with discriminators of polynomials which do not always take prime values. Finally, we describe some general statements and possible topics for study about the discriminator of an arbitrary polynomial with integer coefficients.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1308.3754,
  title  = {Discriminators of quadratic polynomials},
  author = {Soohyun Park},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1308.3754},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

8 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-22T01:10:44.474Z