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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

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

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 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

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 Continuous Skolem Problem asks whether a real-valued function satisfying a linear differential equation has a zero in a given interval of real numbers. This is a fundamental reachability problem for continuous linear dynamical systems,…

Systems and Control · Computer Science 2016-05-11 Ventsislav Chonev , Joel Ouaknine , James Worrell

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

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

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

The degree sequence of the algebraic numbers in an algebraic linear recurrence sequence is shown to be virtually periodic. This is proved using the Skolem-Mahler-Lech theorem. It has applications to the degree sequence and the minimal…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2020-10-01 Daqing Wan , Hang Yin

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

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

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

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

Lech proved in 1953 that the set of zeroes of a linear recurrence sequence in a field of characteristic 0 is the union of a finite set and finitely many infinite arithmetic progressions. This result is known as the Skolem-Mahler-Lech…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2007-05-23 Harm Derksen

A nearly linear recurrence sequence (nlrs) is a complex sequence $(a_n)$ with the property that there exist complex numbers $A_0$,$\ldots$, $A_{d-1}$ such that the sequence $\big(a_{n+d}+A_{d-1}a_{n+d-1}+\cdots +A_0a_n\big)_{n=0}^{\infty}$…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2016-08-02 Shigeki Akiyama , Jan-Hendrik Evertse , Attila Pethő

Ufnarovski remarked in 1990 that it is unknown whether any finitely presented associative algebra of linear growth is automaton, that is, whether the set of normal words in the algebra form a regular language. If the algebra is graded, then…

Rings and Algebras · Mathematics 2017-06-21 Dmitri Piontkovski

We consider the decidability and complexity of the Ultimate Positivity Problem, which asks whether all but finitely many terms of a given rational linear recurrence sequence (LRS) are positive. Using lower bounds in Diophantine…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2017-04-07 Joel Ouaknine , James Worrell

The Skolem Problem asks, given a linear recurrence sequence $(u_n)$, whether there exists $n\in\mathbb{N}$ such that $u_n=0$. In this paper we consider the following specialisation of the problem: given in addition $c\in\mathbb{N}$,…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2020-06-16 George Kenison , Richard Lipton , Joël Ouaknine , James Worrell

Let $K$ be a field of characteristic zero and suppose that $f:\mathbb{N}\to K$ satisfies a recurrence of the form $$f(n)\ =\ \sum_{i=1}^d P_i(n) f(n-i),$$ for $n$ sufficiently large, where $P_1(z),...,P_d(z)$ are polynomials in $K[z]$.…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2015-05-28 Jason P. Bell , Stanley N. Burris , Karen Yeats
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