English

On transcendental entire functions with infinitely many derivatives taking integer values at several points

Number Theory 2020-11-11 v2

Abstract

Let s0,s1,,sm1s_0,s_1,\dots,s_{m-1} be complex numbers and r0,,rm1r_0,\dots,r_{m-1} rational integers in the range 0rjm10\le r_j\le m-1. Our first goal is to prove that if an entire function ff of sufficiently small exponential type satisfies f(mn+rj)(sj)Zf^{(mn+r_j)}(s_j)\in{\mathbb Z} for 0jm10\le j\le m-1 and all sufficiently large nn, then ff is a polynomial. Under suitable assumptions on s0,s1,,sm1s_0,s_1,\dots,s_{m-1} and r0,,rm1r_0,\dots,r_{m-1}, we introduce interpolation polynomials Λnj\Lambda_{nj}, (n0n\ge 0, 0jm10\le j\le m-1) satisfying Λnj(mk+r)(s)=δjδnk,forn,k0and0j,m1 \Lambda_{nj}^{(mk+r_\ell)}(s_\ell)=\delta_{j\ell}\delta_{nk}, \quad\hbox{for}\quad n, k\ge 0 \quad\hbox{and}\quad 0\le j, \ell\le m-1 and we show that any entire function ff of sufficiently small exponential type has a convergent expansion f(z)=n0j=0m1f(mn+rj)(sj)Λnj(z). f(z)=\sum_{n\ge 0} \sum_{j=0}^{m-1}f^{(mn+r_j)}(s_j)\Lambda_{nj}(z). The case rj=jr_j=j for 0jm10\le j\le m-1 involves successive derivatives f(n)(wn)f^{(n)}(w_n) of ff evaluated at points of a periodic sequence w=(wn)n0{\mathbf{w}}=(w_n)_{n\ge 0} of complex numbers, where wmh+j=sjw_{mh+j}=s_j (h0h\ge 0, 0jm0\le j\le m). More generally, given a bounded (not necessarily periodic) sequence w=(wn)n0{\mathbf{w}}=(w_n)_{n\ge 0} of complex numbers, we consider similar interpolation formulae f(z)=n0f(n)(wn)Ωw,n(z) f(z)=\sum_{n\ge 0}f^{(n)}(w_n)\Omega_{{\mathbf{w}},n}(z) involving polynomials Ωw,n(z)\Omega_{{\mathbf{w}},n}(z) which were introduced by W.~Gontcharoff in 1930. Under suitable assumptions, we show that the hypothesis f(n)(wn)Zf^{(n)}(w_n)\in{\mathbb Z} for all sufficiently large nn implies that ff is a polynomial.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1912.00174,
  title  = {On transcendental entire functions with infinitely many derivatives taking integer values at several points},
  author = {Michel Waldschmidt},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1912.00174},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

21 pages. To appear in the Moscow Journal of Combinatorics and Number Theory. The first version was substantially improved thanks to a contribution by Damien Roy