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Related papers: On the Skolem Problem and Prime Powers

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The Skolem Problem asks to determine whether a given linear recurrence sequence (LRS) $\langle u_n \rangle_{n=0}^\infty$ over the integers has a zero term, that is, whether there exists $n$ such that $u_n = 0$. Decidability of the problem…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2025-10-27 Piotr Bacik , Joël Ouaknine , James Worrell

The Skolem Problem asks to determine whether a given integer linear recurrence sequence has a zero term. This problem arises across a wide range of topics in computer science, including loop termination, formal languages, automata theory,…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2024-02-21 Florian Luca , James Maynard , Armand Noubissie , Joël Ouaknine , James Worrell

Given an integer linear recurrence sequence $\langle X_n \rangle_n$, the Skolem Problem asks to determine whether there is a natural number $n$ such that $X_n = 0$. Recent work by Lipton, Luca, Nieuwveld, Ouaknine, Purser, and Worrell…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2022-07-12 George Kenison

We show that the Skolem Problem is decidable in finitely generated commutative rings of positive characteristic. More precisely, we show that there exists an algorithm which, given a finite presentation of a (unitary) commutative ring…

Logic in Computer Science · Computer Science 2026-03-12 Ruiwen Dong , Doron Shafrir

The celebrated Skolem-Mahler-Lech Theorem states that the set of zeros of a linear recurrence sequence is the union of a finite set and finitely many arithmetic progressions. The corresponding computational question, the Skolem Problem,…

Logic in Computer Science · Computer Science 2022-04-29 Yuri Bilu , Florian Luca , Joris Nieuwveld , Joël Ouaknine , David Purser , James Worrell

We show that in a parametric family of linear recurrence sequences $a_1(\alpha) f_1(\alpha)^n + \ldots + a_k(\alpha) f_k(\alpha)^n$ with the coefficients $a_i$ and characteristic roots $f_i$, $i=1, \ldots,k$, given by rational functions…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2021-07-13 Alina Ostafe , Igor Shparlinski

The exponential local-global principle, or Skolem conjecture, says: Suppose that \(b\) is a positive integer, and that the sequence \((u_{n})_{n = -\infty}^{\infty}\) is such that every term is in \(\mathbb{Z}[1/b]\), the linear recurrence…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2025-02-03 Henry Robert Thackeray

In this paper, we address the Skolem problem for the $k$-generalized Pell sequence $(P_n^{(k)})_{n\geq2-k}$ extended to negative indices. We focus on identifying and bounding the indices $n<0$ for which $P_n^{(k)}=0.$ In particular, we…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2026-01-26 Monalisa Mohapatra , Pritam Kumar Bhoi , Gopal Krishna Panda

The Skolem Problem asks, given an integer linear recurrence sequence (LRS), to determine whether the sequence contains a zero term or not. Its decidability is a longstanding open problem in theoretical computer science and automata theory.…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2025-08-05 Gorav Jindal , Joël Ouaknine

In this paper, given a simple linear recurrence sequence of algebraic numbers, which has either a dominant characteristic root or exactly two characteristic roots of maximal modulus, we give some explicit lower bounds for the index beyond…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2018-10-03 Min Sha

Let $\{U(m)\}_{m\in \N}$ and $\{V(n)\}_{n\in \N}$ be linear recurrence sequences. It is a well-known Diophantine problem to determine the finiteness of the set of natural numbers $n$ such that the ratio $U(n)/V(n)$ is an integer. We study…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2026-05-08 Parvathi S Nair , S. S. Rout

We study the decidability of the Skolem Problem, the Positivity Problem, and the Ultimate Positivity Problem for linear recurrences with real number initial values and real number coefficients in the bit-model of real computation. We show…

Logic in Computer Science · Computer Science 2023-06-22 Eike Neumann

For almost a century, the decidability of the Skolem Problem - that is, the problem of finding whether a given linear recurrence sequence (LRS) has a zero term - has remained open. A breakthrough in the 1980s established that the Skolem…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2025-12-10 Piotr Bacik

The Skolem problem is a long-standing open problem in linear dynamical systems: can a linear recurrence sequence (LRS) ever reach 0 from a given initial configuration? Similarly, the positivity problem asks whether the LRS stays positive…

Logic in Computer Science · Computer Science 2024-08-07 S. Akshay , Hugo Bazille , Blaise Genest , Mihir Vahanwala

Let $S= \{ p_1, \ldots, p_s\}$ be a finite, non-empty set of distinct prime numbers and $(U_{n})_{n \geq 0}$ be a linear recurrence sequence of integers of order $r$. For any positive integer $k,$ we define $(U_j^{(k)})_{j\geq 1}$ an…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2020-04-16 S. S. Rout , N. K. Meher

The Skolem Problem asks to determine whether a given linear recurrence sequence (LRS) has a zero term. Showing decidability of this problem is equivalent to giving an effective proof of the Skolem-Mahler-Lech Theorem, which asserts that a…

Logic in Computer Science · Computer Science 2026-05-12 Piotr Bacik , Joël Ouaknine , David Purser , James Worrell

A Skolem sequence is a sequence a_1,a_2,...,a_2n (where a_i \in A = {1,...,n }), each a_i occurs exactly twice in the sequence and the two occurrences are exactly a_i positions apart. A set A that can be used to construct Skolem sequences…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2007-05-23 Gustav Nordh

We study decidability and complexity questions related to a continuous analogue of the Skolem-Pisot problem concerning the zeros and nonnegativity of a linear recurrent sequence. In particular, we show that the continuous version of the…

Dynamical Systems · Mathematics 2009-04-23 Paul Bell , Jean-Charles Delvenne , Raphael Jungers , Vincent D. Blondel

Let $S = \{q_1, \ldots , q_s\}$ be a finite, non-empty set of distinct prime numbers. For a non-zero integer $m$, write $m = q_1^{r_1} \ldots q_s^{r_s} M$, where $r_1, \ldots , r_s$ are non-negative integers and $M$ is an integer relatively…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2016-11-03 Yann Bugeaud , Jan-Hendrik Evertse

This paper provides a complete solution to Skolem's problem for the $k$-generalized Lucas sequence $(L_n^{(k)})_{n \in \mathbb{Z}}$ with a primary focus on its behavior at negative indices. We characterize the zero-distribution of this…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2026-03-10 Monalisa Mohapatra , Pritam Kumar Bhoi , Gopal Krishna Panda
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