In his `Memoir on Elliptic Divisibility Sequences', Morgan Ward's definition of the said sequences has the remarkable feature that it does not become at all clear until deep into the paper that there exist nontrivial such sequences. Even then, Ward's proof of coherence of his definition relies on displaying a sequence of values of quotients of Weierstraß$σ$-functions. We give a direct proof of coherence and show, rather more generally, that a sequence defined by a so-called Somos relation of gap 4 always also is given by a three term Somos relation of all larger gaps 5, 6, 7, $... $.
The Somos 5 sequences are a family of sequences defined by a fifth order bilinear recurrence relation with constant coefficients. For particular choices of coefficients and initial data, integer sequences arise. By making the connection with a second order nonlinear mapping with a first integral, we prove that the two subsequences of odd/even index terms each satisfy a Somos 4 (fourth order) recurrence. This leads directly to the explicit solution of the initial value problem for the Somos 5 sequences in terms of the Weierstrass sigma function for an associated elliptic curve.
We construct the explicit solution of the initial value problem for sequences generated by the general Somos-6 recurrence relation, in terms of the Kleinian sigma-function of genus two. For each sequence there is an associated genus two curve $X$, such that iteration of the recurrence corresponds to translation by a fixed vector in the Jacobian of $X$. The construction is based on a Lax pair with a spectral curve $S$ of genus four admitting an involution $σ$ with two fixed points, and the Jacobian of $X$ arises as the Prym variety Prym$(S,σ)$.
We detail the continued fraction expansion of the square root of monic sextic polynomials. We note in passing that each line of the expansion corresponds to addition of the divisor at infinity, and interpret the data yielded by the general expansion. In particular we obtain an associated Somos sequence defined by a three-term recurrence relation of gap~6.
Recently Ovsienko and Tabachnikov considered extensions of Somos and Gale-Robinson sequences, defined over the algebra of dual numbers. Ovsienko used the same idea to construct so-called shadow sequences derived from other nonlinear recurrence relations exhibiting the Laurent phenomenon, with the original motivation being the hope that these examples should lead to an appropriate notion of a cluster superalgebra, incorporating Grassmann variables. Here we present various explicit expressions for the shadow of Somos-4 sequences, and describe the solution of a general Somos-4 recurrence defined …
We define the generalized-Euler-constant function $γ(z)=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} z^{n-1} (\frac{1}{n}-\log \frac{n+1}{n})$ when $|z|\leq 1$. Its values include both Euler's constant $γ=γ(1)$ and the "alternating Euler constant" $\log\frac{4}π=γ(-1)$. We extend Euler's two zeta-function series for $γ$ to polylogarithm series for $γ(z)$. Integrals for $γ(z)$ provide its analytic continuation to $\C-[1,\infty)$. We prove several other formulas for $γ(z)$, including two functional equations; one is an inversion relation between $γ(z)$ and $γ(1/z)$. We generalize Somos's quadratic recurrence constant an…
The Somos-5 sequence is defined by $a_{0} = a_{1} = a_{2} = a_{3} = a_{4} = 1$ and $a_{m} = \frac{a_{m-1} a_{m-4} + a_{m-2} a_{m-3}}{a_{m-5}}$ for $m \geq 5$. We relate the arithmetic of the Somos-5 sequence to the elliptic curve $E : y^{2} + xy = x^{3} + x^{2} - 2x$ and use properties of Galois representations attached to $E$ to prove the density of primes $p$ dividing some term in the Somos-5 sequence is equal to $\frac{5087}{10752}$.
Center for Combinatorics, LPMC,Nankai University（南开大学组合数学中心）；School of Mathematics and Statistics,North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power（华北水利水电大学数学与统计学院）；School of Mathematics and Statistics,Beijing Institute of Technology（北京理工大学数学与统计学院）
We detail the continued fraction expansion of the square root of the general monic quartic polynomial, noting that each line of the expansion corresponds to addition of the divisor at infinity. We analyse the data yielded by the general expansion. In that way we obtain `elliptic sequences' satisfying Somos relations. I mention several new results on such sequences. The paper includes a detailed `reminder exposition' on continued fractions of quadratic irrationals in function fields.
This article is dedicated to the memory of Vadim Kuznetsov, and begins with some of the author's recollections of him. Thereafter, a brief review of Somos sequences is provided, with particular focus being made on the integrable structure of Somos-4 recurrences, and on the Laurent property. Subsequently a family of fourth-order recurrences that share the Laurent property are considered, which are equivalent to Poisson maps in four dimensions. Two of these maps turn out to be superintegrable, and their iteration furnishes infinitely many solutions of some associated quartic Diophantine equation…
Triangles with integer length sides and integer area are known as Heron triangles. Taking rescaling freedom into account, one can apply the same name when all sides and the area are rational numbers. A perfect triangle is a Heron triangle with all three medians being rational, and it is a longstanding conjecture that no such triangle exists. However, Buchholz and Rathbun showed that there are infinitely many Heron triangles with two rational medians, an infinite subset of which are associated with rational points on an elliptic curve $E(\mathbb{Q})$ with Mordell-Weil group $\mathbb{Z}\times \m…
We consider the primes which divide the denominator of the x-coordinate of a sequence of rational points on an elliptic curve. It is expected that for every sufficiently large value of the index, each term should be divisible by a primitive prime divisor, one that has not appeared in any earlier term. Proofs of this are known in only a few cases. Weaker results in the general direction are given, using a strong form of Siegel's Theorem and some congruence arguments. Our main result is applied to the study of prime divisors of Somos sequences.
Let $p$ be a prime number and $E_{p}$ denote the elliptic curve $y^2=x^3+px$. It is known that for $p$ which is congruent to $1, 9$ modulo $16$, the rank of $E_{p}$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ is equal to $0, 2$. Under the condition that the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture is true, we give a necessary and sufficient condition that the rank is $2$ in terms of the constant term of some polynomial that is defined by a recurrence formula.
Let $E$ be an elliptic curve defined over the rationals and in minimal Weierstrass form, and let $P=(x_1/z_1^2,y_1/z_1^3)$ be a rational point of infinite order on $E$, where $x_1,y_1,z_1$ are coprime integers. We show that the integer sequence $(z_n)$ defined by $nP=(x_n/z_n^2,y_n/z_n^3)$ for all $n\ge 1$ does not eventually coincide with $(u_{n^2})$ for any choice of linear recurrence sequence $(u_n)$ with integer values.
The Somos 4 sequences are a family of sequences satisfying a fourth order bilinear recurrence relation. In recent work, one of us has proved that the general term in such sequences can be expressed in terms of the Weierstrass sigma function for an associated elliptic curve. Here we derive the analogous family of sequences associated with an hyperelliptic curve of genus two defined by the affine model $y^2=4x^5+c_4 x^4+ ... +c_1 x+c_0$. We show that the recurrence sequences associated with such curves satisfy bilinear recurrences of order 8. The proof requires an addition formula which involves…
An elliptic divisibility sequence is an integer recurrence sequence associated to an elliptic curve over the rationals together with a rational point on that curve. In this paper we present a higher-dimensional analogue over arbitrary base fields. Suppose E is an elliptic curve over a field K, and P_1, ..., P_n are points on E defined over K. To this information we associate an n-dimensional array of values in K satisfying a nonlinear recurrence relation. Arrays satisfying this relation are called elliptic nets. We demonstrate an explicit bijection between the set of elliptic nets and the set …
The coefficient series of the holomorphic Picard-Fuchs differential equation associated with the periods of elliptic curves often have surprising number-theoretic properties. These have been widely studied in the case of the torsion-free, genus zero congruence subgroups of index 6 and 12 (e.g. the Beauville families). Here, we consider arithmetic properties of the Picard-Fuchs solutions associated to general elliptic families, with a particular focus on the index 24 congruence subgroups. We prove that elliptic families with rational parameters admit linear reparametrizations such that their as…
Diophantine problems involving recurrence sequences have a long history and is an actively studied topic within number theory. In this paper, we connect to the field by considering the equation \begin{align*} B_mB_{m+d}\dots B_{m+(k-1)d}=y^\ell \end{align*} in positive integers $m,d,k,y$ with $\gcd(m,d)=1$ and $k\geq 2$, where $\ell\geq 2$ is a fixed integer and $B=(B_n)_{n=1}^\infty$ is an elliptic divisibility sequence, an important class of non-linear recurrences. We prove that the above equation admits only finitely many solutions. In fact, we present an algorithm to find all possible solu…
Define the sequence $\{b_n\}$ by $b_0=1,b_1=1, b_2=2,b_3=1$, and $$b_n=\begin{cases} \frac{b_{n-1}b_{n-3}-b_{n-2}^2}{b_{n-4}}&\textrm{if}~ n\not\equiv 0\pmod 3, \frac{b_{n-1}b_{n-3}-3b_{n-2}^2}{b_{n-4}}&\textrm{if}~ n\equiv 0\pmod 3. We relate this sequence $\{b_n\}$ to the coordinates of points on the elliptic curve $E:y^2+y=x^3-3x+4$. We use Galois representations attached to $E$ to prove that the density of primes dividing a term in this sequence is equal to $\frac{179}{336}$. Furthermore, we describe an infinite family of elliptic curves whose Galois images match that of $E$.
The Fermat numbers have many notable properties, including order universality, coprimality, and definition by a recurrence relation. We use arbitrary elliptic curves and rational points of infinite order to generate sequences that are analogous to the Fermat numbers. We demonstrate that these sequences have many of the same properties as the Fermat numbers, and we discuss results about the prime factors of sequences generated by specific curves and points.
Consider the celebrated Lyness recurrence $x_{n+2}=(a+x_{n+1})/x_{n}$ with $a\in\Q$. First we prove that there exist initial conditions and values of $a$ for which it generates periodic sequences of rational numbers with prime periods $1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10$ or $12$ and that these are the only periods that rational sequences $\{x_n\}_n$ can have. It is known that if we restrict our attention to positive rational values of $a$ and positive rational initial conditions the only possible periods are $1,5$ and $9$. Moreover 1-periodic and 5-periodic sequences are easily obtained. We prove that for inf…
For an (irreducible) recurrence equation with coefficients from $\mathbb Z[n]$ and its two linearly independent rational solutions $u_n,v_n$, the limit of $u_n/v_n$ as $n\to\infty$, when exists, is called the Apéry limit. We give a construction that realises certain quotients of $L$-values of elliptic curves as Apéry limits.
