English

Effective finiteness of solutions to certain differential and difference equations

Number Theory 2021-01-25 v2 Complex Variables

Abstract

For R(z, w) rational with complex coefficients, of degree at least 2 in w, we show that the number of rational functions f(z) solving the difference equation f(z+1)=R(z, f(z)) is finite and bounded just in terms of the degrees of R in the two variables. This complements a result of Yanagihara, who showed that any finite-order meromorphic solution to this sort of difference equation must be a rational function. We prove a similar result for the differential equation f'(z)=R(z, f(z)), building on a result of Eremenko.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2011.02968,
  title  = {Effective finiteness of solutions to certain differential and difference equations},
  author = {Patrick Ingram},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2011.02968},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

Minor corrections made based on referee feedback, and a few remarks/examples/questions added

R2 v1 2026-06-23T19:56:39.357Z