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Florian Luca

Publications and source records attributed to Florian Luca.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2021

The Orbit Problem for Parametric Linear Dynamical Systems

We study a parametric version of the Kannan-Lipton Orbit Problem for linear dynamical systems. We show decidability in the case of one parameter and Skolem-hardness with two or more parameters. More precisely, consider a $d$-dimensional square matrix $M$ whose entries are algebraic functions in one or more real variables. Given initial and target vectors $u,v\in \mathbb{Q}^d$, the parametric point-to-point orbit problem asks whether there exist values of the parameters giving rise to a concrete matrix $N \in \mathbb{R}^{d\times d}$, and a positive integer $n\in \mathbb{N}$, such that $N^nu = v$. We show decidability for the case in which $M$ depends only upon a single parameter, and we exhibit a reduction from the well-known Skolem Problem for linear recurrence sequences, suggesting intractability in the case of two or more parameters.

cs.LO↗
arXiv2021

On a nonintegrality conjecture

It is conjectured that the sum $$ S_r(n)=\sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{k}{k+r}\binom{n}{k} $$ for positive integers $r,n$ is never integral. This has been shown for $r\le 22$. In this note we study the problem in the ``$n$ aspect" showing that the set of $n$ such that $S_r(n)\in {\mathbb Z}$ for some $r\ge 1$ has asymptotic density $0$. Our principal tools are some deep results on the distribution of primes in short intervals.

math.NT↗
arXiv2021

Coprime partitions and Jordan totient functions

We show that while the number of coprime compositions of a positive integer $n$ into $k$ parts can be expressed as a $\mathbb{Q}$-linear combinations of the Jordan totient functions, this is never possible for the coprime partitions of $n$ into $k$ parts. We also show that the number $p_k'(n)$ of coprime partitions of $n$ into $k$ parts can be expressed as a $\mathbb{C}$-linear combinations of the Jordan totient functions, for $n$ sufficiently large, if and only if $k\in \{2,3\}$ and in a unique way. Finally we introduce some generalizations of the Jordan totient functions and we show that $p_k'(n)$ can be always expressed as a $\mathbb{C}$-linear combinations of them.

math.NT↗
arXiv2020

On Petersson's partition limit formula

For each prime $p\equiv 1\pmod{4}$ consider the Legendre character $χ=(\frac{\cdot}{p})$. Let $p_\pm(n)$ be the number of partitions of $n$ into parts $λ>0$ such that $χ(λ)=\pm 1$. Petersson proved a beautiful limit formula for the ratio of $p_+(n)$ to $p_-(n)$ as $n\to\infty$ expressed in terms of important invariants of the real quadratic field $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{p})$. But his proof is not illuminating and Grosswald conjectured a more natural proof using a Tauberian converse of the Stolz-Cesàro theorem. In this paper we suggest an approach to address Grosswald's conjecture. We discuss a monotonicity conjecture which looks quite natural in the context of the monotonicity theorems of Bateman-Erdős.

math.NT↗
arXiv2020

Binary polynomial power sums vanishing at roots of unity

Let $c_1(x),c_2(x),f_1(x),f_2(x)$ be polynomials with rational coefficients. With obvious exceptions, there can be at most finitely many roots of unity among the zeros of the polynomials $c_1(x)f_1(x)^n+c_2(x)f_2(x)^n$ with $n=1,2\ldots$. We estimate the orders of these roots of unity in terms of the degrees and the heights of the polynomials $c_i$ and $f_i$.

math.NT↗
arXiv2020

On Positivity and Minimality for Second-Order Holonomic Sequences

An infinite sequence $\langle{u_n}\rangle_{n\in\mathbb{N}}$ of real numbers is holonomic (also known as P-recursive or P-finite) if it satisfies a linear recurrence relation with polynomial coefficients. Such a sequence is said to be positive if each $u_n \geq 0$, and minimal if, given any other linearly independent sequence $\langle{v_n}\rangle_{n \in\mathbb{N}}$ satisfying the same recurrence relation, the ratio $u_n/v_n$ converges to $0$. In this paper, we focus on holonomic sequences satisfying a second-order recurrence $g_3(n)u_n = g_2(n)u_{n-1} + g_1(n)u_{n-2}$, where each coefficient $g_3, g_2,g_1 \in \mathbb{Q}[n]$ is a polynomial of degree at most $1$. We establish two main results. First, we show that deciding positivity for such sequences reduces to deciding minimality. And second, we prove that deciding minimality is equivalent to determining whether certain numerical expressions (known as periods, exponential periods, and period-like integrals) are equal to zero. Periods and related expressions are classical objects of study in algebraic geometry and number theory, and several established conjectures (notably those of Kontsevich and Zagier) imply that they have a decidable equality problem, which in turn would entail decidability of Positivity and Minimality for a large class of second-order holonomic sequences.

math.NT↗
arXiv2020

On members of Lucas sequences which are products of Catalan numbers

We show that if $\{U_n\}_{n\geq 0}$ is a Lucas sequence, then the largest $n$ such that $|U_n|=C_{m_1}C_{m_2}\cdots C_{m_k}$ with $1\leq m_1\leq m_2\leq \cdots\leq m_k$, where $C_m$ is the $m$th Catalan number satisfies $n<6500$. In case the roots of the Lucas sequence are real, we have $n\in \{1,2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12\}$. As a consequence, we show that if $\{X_n\}_{n\geq 1}$ is the sequence of the $X$ coordinates of a Pell equation $X^2-dY^2=\pm 1$ with a nonsquare integer $d>1$, then $X_n=C_m$ implies $n=1$.

math.NT↗
arXiv2020

On the problem of Pillai with $k$--generalized Fibonacci numbers and powers of $3$

For an integer $k\ge 2$, let $\{F^{(k)}_{n}\}_{n\ge 2-k}$ be the $ k$--generalized Fibonacci sequence which starts with $0, \ldots, 0,1$ (a total of $k$ terms) and for which each term afterwards is the sum of the $k$ preceding terms. In this paper, we find all integers $ c $ with at least two representations as a difference between a $ k $-generalized Fibonacci number and a power of $ 3 $. This paper continues the previous work of the first author for the Fibonacci numbers, and the Tribonacci numbers.

math.NT↗
arXiv2020

Perfect squares representing the number of rational points on elliptic curves over finite field extensions

Let $q$ be a perfect power of a prime number $p$ and $E({\mathbb F}_q)$ be an elliptic curve over ${\mathbb F}_q$ given by the equation $y^2=x^3+Ax+B$. For a positive integer $n$ we denote by $ \# E({\mathbb F}_{q^n})$ the number of rational points on $E$ (including infinity) over the extension ${\mathbb F}_{q^n}$. Under a mild technical condition, we show that the sequence $\lbrace \# E({\mathbb F}_{q^n}) \rbrace_{n>0}$ contains at most $10^{200}$ perfect squares. If the mild condition is not satisfied, then $\#E({\mathbb F}_{q^n})$ is a perfect square for infinitely many $n$ including all the multiples of $24$. Our proof uses a quantitative version of the Subspace Theorem. We also find all the perfect squares for all such sequences in the range $q < 50$ and $n\leq 1000$.

math.NT↗
arXiv2020

On certain sums concerning the gcd's and lcm's of $k$ positive integers

We use elementary arguments to prove results on the order of magnitude of certain sums concerning the gcd's and lcm's of $k$ positive integers, where $k\ge 2$ is fixed. We refine and generalize an asymptotic formula of Bordellès (2007), and extend certain related results of Hilberdink and Tóth (2016). We also formulate some conjectures and open problems.

math.NT↗
arXiv2019

On ternary Egyptian fractions with prime denominator

Given a positive integer $n$ we let $A_k(n)$ be the number of positive integers $a$ such that $\frac{a}{n}=\frac{1}{m_1}+\frac{1}{m_2}+\cdots+\frac{1}{m_k}$ for some $m_1,m_2,\ldots,m_k\in {\mathbb N}$. We show that $x(\log x)^3\ll \sum_{p\le x} A_3(p)\ll x(\log x)^5$ as $x\rightarrow\infty$.

math.NT↗
arXiv2019

Primitive root bias for twin primes II: Schinzel-type theorems for totient quotients and the sum-of-divisors function

Garcia, Kahoro, and Luca showed that the Bateman-Horn conjecture implies $ϕ(p-1) \geq ϕ(p+1)$ for a majority of twin-primes pairs $p,p+2$ and that the reverse inequality holds for a small positive proportion of the twin primes. That is, $p$ tends to have more primitive roots than does $p+2$. We prove that Dickson's conjecture, which is much weaker than Bateman-Horn, implies that the quotients $\frac{ϕ(p+1)}{ϕ(p-1)}$, as $p,p+2$ range over the twin primes, are dense in the positive reals. We also establish several Schinzel-type theorems, some of them unconditional, about the behavior of $\frac{ϕ(p+1)}{ϕ(p)}$ and $\frac{σ(p+1)}{σ(p)}$, in which $σ$ denotes the sum-of-divisors function.

math.NT↗
arXiv2019

Trinomials with given roots

We show that, apart from some obvious exceptions, the number of trinomials vanishing at given complex numbers is bounded by an absolute constant. When the numbers are algebraic, we also bound effectively the degrees and the heights of these trinomials.

math.NT↗
arXiv2019

On the period mod $m$ of polynomially-recursive sequences: a case study

Polynomially-recursive sequences generally have a periodic behavior mod $m$. In this paper, we analyze the period mod $m$ of a second order polynomially-recursive sequence. The problem originally comes from an enumeration of avoiding pattern permutations and appears to be linked with nice number theory notions (the Carmichael function, Wieferich primes, algebraic integers). We give the mod $a^k$ supercongruences, and generalize these results to a class of recurrences.

math.NT↗
arXiv2019

On members of Lucas sequences which are products of factorials

Here, we show that if $\{U_n\}_{n\ge 0}$ is a Lucas sequence, then the largest $n$ such that $|U_n|=m_1!m_2!\cdots m_k!$ with $1<m_1\le m_2\le \cdots\le m_k$ satisfies $n<3\times 10^5$. We also give better bounds in case the roots of the Lucas sequence are real.

math.NT↗