ON INTEGER SEQUENCES GENERATED BY LINEAR MAPS

Abstract

AbstractLetx0<x1<x2< ⋅⋅⋅ be an increasing sequence of positive integers given by the formulaxn=⌊βxn−1+ γ⌋ forn=1, 2, 3, . . ., where β > 1 and γ are real numbers andx0is a positive integer. We describe the conditions on integersbd, . . .,b0, not all zero, and on a real number β > 1 under which the sequence of integerswn=bdxn+d+ ⋅⋅⋅ +b0xn,n=0, 1, 2, . . ., is bounded by a constant independent ofn. The conditions under which this sequence can be ultimately periodic are also described. Finally, we prove a lower bound on the complexity function of the sequenceqxn+1−pxn∈ {0, 1, . . .,q−1},n=0, 1, 2, . . ., wherex0is a positive integer,p>q> 1 are coprime integers andxn=⌈pxn−1/q⌉ forn=1, 2, 3, . . . A similar speculative result concerning the complexity of the sequence of alternatives (F:x↦x/2 orS:x↦(3x+1)/2) in the 3x+1 problem is also given.