Related papers: Primitive prime divisors and the $n$-th cyclotomic…

This is an essay about a certain family of elements in the general linear group GL(d,q) called primitive prime divisor elements, or ppd-elements. A classification of the subgroups of GL(d,q) which contain such elements is discussed, and the…

We study the primitive divisors of the terms of $(\Delta_n)_{n \geq 1}$, where $\Delta_n=N_{K/ \mathbb{Q}}(u^n-1)$ for $K$ a real quadratic field, and $u>1$ a unit element of its ring of integers. The methods used allow us to find the terms…

The notion of block divisibility naturally leads one to introduce unitary cyclotomic polynomials $\Phi_n^*(x)$. They can be written as certain products of cyclotomic poynomials. We study the case where $n$ has two or three distinct prime…

We consider primitive divisors of terms of integer sequences defined by quadratic polynomials. Apart from some small counterexamples, when a term has a primitive divisor, that primitive divisor is unique. It seems likely that the number of…

Let $\{nP+Q\}_{n\geq0}$ be a sequence of points on an elliptic curve defined over a number field $K$. In this paper, we study the denominators of the $x$-coordinates of this sequence. We prove that, if $Q$ is a torsion point of prime order,…

Let F(z) be a rational function in Q(z) of degree at least 2 with F(0) = 0 and such that F does not vanish to order d at 0. Let b be a rational number having infinite orbit under iteration of F, and write F^n(b) = A_n/B_n as a fraction in…

The $n^{th}$ cyclotomic polynomial $\Phi_n(x)$ is the minimal polynomial of an $n^{th}$ primitive root of unity. Its coefficients are the subject of intensive study and some formulas are known for them. Here we are interested in formulas…

Let $Q(n)$ denote the count of the primitive subsets of the integers $\{1,2\ldots n\}$. We give a new proof that $Q(n) = \alpha^{(1+o(1))n}$ which allows us to give a good error term and to improve upon the lower bound for the value of this…

The previous paper [4] proved the existence of primitive polynomials and primitive normal polynomials of degree n with k prescribed coefficients in the finite field GF(q) for all sufficiently large q. This paper presents a loger versions of…

The $n^{th}$ cyclotomic polynomial $\Phi_n(x)$ is the minimal polynomial of an $n^{th}$ primitive root of unity. Hence $\Phi_n(x)$ is trivially zero at primitive $n^{th}$ roots of unity. Using finite Fourier analysis we derive a formula for…

Let $(b_n) = (b_1, b_2, ...)$ be a sequence of integers. A primitive prime divisor of a term $b_k$ is a prime which divides $b_k$ but does not divide any of the previous terms of the sequence. A zero orbit of a polynomial $f(z)$ is a…

Let $\mathcal C_Q$ be the cyclic group of order $Q$, $n$ a divisor of $Q$ and $r$ a divisor of $Q/n$. We introduce the set of $(r,n)$-free elements of $\mathcal C_Q$ and derive a lower bound for the the number of elements $\theta \in…

As a consequence of the classification of finite simple groups, the classification of permutation groups of prime degree is complete, apart from the question of when the natural degree $(q^n-1)/(q-1)$ of ${\rm L}_n(q)$ is prime. We present…

A primitive prime divisor of an element a_n of a sequence (a_1,a_2,a_3,...) is a prime P that divides a_n, but does not divide a_m for all m < n. The Zsigmondy set Z of the sequence is the set of n such that a_n has no primitive prime…

Given a polynomial $\phi$ over a global function field $K$ and a wandering base point $b\in K$, we give a geometric condition on $\phi$ ensuring the existence of primitive prime divisors for almost all points in the orbit…

We introduce the notion of primitive elements in arbitrary truncated $p$-divisible groups. By design, the scheme of primitive elements is finite and locally free over the base. Primitive elements generalize the "points of exact order $N$,"…

A cyclotomic polynomial \Phi_n(x) is said to be ternary if n=pqr with p,q and r distinct odd primes. Ternary cyclotomic polynomials are the simplest ones for which the behaviour of the coefficients is not completely understood. Here we…

We study primitive divisors of terms of the sequence P_n=n^2+b, for a fixed integer b which is not a negative square. It seems likely that the number of terms with a primitive divisor has a natural density. This seems to be a difficult…

We study the number of real critical points of a cyclotomic polynomial $\Phi_{n}(x)$, that is, the real roots of $\Phi_{n}^{\prime}(x)$. As usual, one can, without losing generality, restrict $n$ to be the product of distinct odd primes,…

We begin by considering faithful matrix representations of elementary abelian groups in prime characteristic. The representations considered are seen to be determined up to change of bases by a single number. Studying this number leads to a…