Related papers: On the Skolem Problem for Reversible Sequences

The higher-dimensional version of Kannan and Lipton's Orbit Problem asks whether it is decidable if a target subspace can be reached from a starting point under repeated application of a linear transformation. Similarly, the continuous…

The Collatz sequence for a given natural number $N$ is generated by repeatedly applying the map $N$ $\rightarrow$ $3N+1$ if $N$ is odd and $N$ $\rightarrow$ $N/2$ if $N$ is even. One elusive open problem in Mathematics is whether all such…

We define a sequence of positive integers recursively, where each term is determined as follows: starting with a given positive integer, if the term is odd, the next is the sum of its positive divisors; if the term is even, the subsequent…

The Orbit Problem asks whether the orbit of a point under a matrix reaches a given target set. When the target is a single point, the problem was shown to be decidable in polynomial time by Kannan and Lipton. This decidability result was…

In this note, we present a characterization of sets definable in Skolem arithmetic, i.e., the first-order theory of natural numbers with multiplication. This characterization allows us to prove the decidability of the theory. The idea is…

The following system of equations {x_1 \cdot x_1=x_2, x_2 \cdot x_2=x_3, 2^{2^{x_1}}=x_3, x_4 \cdot x_5=x_2, x_6 \cdot x_7=x_2} has exactly one solution in ({\mathbb N}\{0,1})^7, namely (2,4,16,2,2,2,2). Hypothesis 1 states that if a system…

Given a linear recurrence sequence (LRS) over the integers, the Positivity Problem} asks whether all terms of the sequence are positive. We show that, for simple LRS (those whose characteristic polynomial has no repeated roots) of order 9…

We study the inverse problem in the theory of (standard) orthogonal polynomials involving two polynomials families $(P_n)_n$ and $(Q_n)_n$ which are connected by a linear algebraic structure such as $$P_n(x)+\sum_{i=1}^N…

We obtain solutions to the recursive sequences of the form $$x_{n + 1} = \frac{x_{n - 3}x_{n }}{x_{n - 2}(a_n + b_nx_{n -3}x_{n})}$$ where $a_n$ and $b_n$ are arbitrary sequences of real numbers, and the initial values are gives as;…

Given a finite nonempty sequence of integers S, by grouping adjacent terms it is always possible to write it, possibly in many ways, as S = X Y^k, where X and Y are sequences and Y is nonempty. Choose the version which maximizes the value…

Much progress has been made on the problem of calculating $g(n)$ for various classes of integers $n$, where $g$ is the group-counting function. We approach the inverse problem of solving the equations $g(n) = 6$ and $g(n) = 7$ in $n$. The…

We classify all linear division sequences in the integers, a problem going back to at least the 1930s. As a corollary we also classify those linear recurrence sequences in the integers for which $(x_m,x_n)=\pm x_{(m,n)}$. We also show that…

Motivated by a construction in the theory of cluster algebras (Fomin and Zelevinsky), one associates to each acyclic directed graph a family of sequences of natural integers, one for each vertex; this construction is called a {\em frieze};…

Let $n\ge 3$ be an odd natural number. In 1738, Abraham de Moivre introduced a family of polynomials of degree $n$ with rational coefficients, all of which are solvable. So far, the Galois groups of these polynomials have been investigated…

We study sequences $(x_n)_{n=1}^{\infty}$ of reals given by $x_{n+1} = f(x)$ where $$f(x) = x - \sum_{i=1}^{m} \frac{\alpha_i}{x - \beta_i},$$ where $\alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_m \in \mathbb{R}_{>0}$ and $\beta_1, \dots, \beta_m \in…

In 2000, Rees and Shalaby constructed simple indecomposable two-fold cyclic triple systems for all v congruent to 0, 1, 3, 4, 7, and 9 (mod 12) where v = 4 or v>11, using Skolem-type sequences. We construct, using Skolem-type sequences,…

We show that only a rather small proportion of linear equations are solvable in elements of a fixed finitely generated subgroup of a multiplicative group of a number field. The argument is based on modular techniques combined with a…

Given a finite nonempty sequence S of integers, write it as XY^k, where Y^k is a power of greatest exponent that is a suffix of S: this k is the curling number of S. The Curling Number Conjecture is that if one starts with any initial…

The program Reverse Mathematics (RM for short) seeks to identify the axioms necessary to prove theorems of ordinary mathematics, usually working in the language of second-order arithmetic $L_{2}$. A major theme in RM is therefore the study…

Let $n>m>k$ be positive integers and let $a,b,c$ be nonzero rational numbers. We consider the reducibility of some special quadrinomials $x^n+ax^m+bx^k+c$ with $n=4$ and 5, which related to the study of rational points on certain elliptic…