Skip to main content

Decision Problems for Linear Recurrence Sequences

  • Conference paper
Reachability Problems (RP 2012)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 7550))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Linear recurrence sequences permeate a vast number of areas of mathematics and computer science. In this paper, we survey the state of the art concerning certain fundamental decision problems for linear recurrence sequences, namely the Skolem Problem (does the sequence have a zero?), the Positivity Problem (is the sequence always positive?), and the Ultimate Positivity Problem (is the sequence ultimately always positive?).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Berstel, J., Mignotte, M.: Deux propriétés désirables des suites récurrentes linéaires. Bull. Soc. Math. 104 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Blondel, V.D., Portier, N.: The presence of a zero in an integer linear recurrent sequence is NP-hard to decide. Linear Algebra and Its Applications (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cohen, H.: A Course in Computational Algebraic Number Theory. Springer (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Everest, G., van der Poorten, A., Shparlinski, I., Ward, T.: Recurrence Sequences. American Mathematical Society (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Halava, V., Harju, T., Hirvensalo, M.: Positivity of second order linear recurrent sequences. Discrete Applied Mathematics 154(3) (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Halava, V., Harju, T., Hirvensalo, M., Karhumäki, J.: Skolem’s problem — on the border between decidability and undecidability. Technical Report 683, Turku Centre for Computer Science (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Laohakosol, V., Tangsupphathawat, P.: Positivity of third order linear recurrence sequences. Discrete Applied Mathematics 157(15) (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Lech, C.: A note on recurring series. Ark. Mat. 2 (1953)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Lipton, R.J.: Mathematical embarrassments. Blog entry (December 2009), http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2009/12/26/mathematical-embarrassments/

  10. Litow, B.: A decision method for the rational sequence problem. Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity (ECCC) 4(55) (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Mahler, K.: Eine arithmetische Eigenschaft der Taylor Koeffizienten rationaler Funktionen. Proc. Akad. Wet. 38 (1935)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Mahler, K.: On the Taylor coefficients of rational functions. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 52 (1956)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Mignotte, M., Shorey, T.N., Tijdeman, R.: The distance between terms of an algebraic recurrence sequence. Journal für die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik 349 (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Salomaa, A.: Growth functions of Lindenmayer systems: Some new approaches. In: Lindenmayer, A., Rozenberg, G. (eds.) Automata, Languages, Development. North-Holland (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Skolem, T.: Ein Verfahren zur Behandlung gewisser exponentialer Gleichungen. In: Comptes Rendus du Congrès des Mathématiciens Scandinaves (1934)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Soittola, M.: On D0L synthesis problem. In: Lindenmayer, A., Rozenberg, G. (eds.) Automata, Languages, Development. North-Holland (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Tao, T.: Open question: effective Skolem-Mahler-Lech theorem. Blog entry (May 2007), http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2007/05/25/open-question-effective-skolem-mahler-lech-theorem/

  18. Vereshchagin, N.K.: The problem of appearance of a zero in a linear recurrence sequence. Mat. Zametki 38(2) (1985) (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Waldschmidt, M.: Diophantine approximation on linear algebraic groups. Springer (2000)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Ouaknine, J., Worrell, J. (2012). Decision Problems for Linear Recurrence Sequences. In: Finkel, A., Leroux, J., Potapov, I. (eds) Reachability Problems. RP 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7550. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33512-9_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33512-9_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-33511-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-33512-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics