We show that three problems involving linear difference equations with rational function coefficients are essentially equivalent. The first problem is the generalization of the classical Skolem–Mahler–Lech theorem to rational function coefficients. The second problem is whether or not for a given linear difference equation there exists a Picard–Vessiot extension inside the ring of sequences. The third problem is a certain special case of the dynamical Mordell–Lang conjecture. This allows us to deduce...

Let $G$ be an abelian group and $A,B$ two subsets of equal size $k$ such that $A+B$ and $A+A$ both have size $2k-1$. Answering a question of Bihani and Jin, we prove that if $A+B$ is aperiodic or if there exist elements $a\in A$ and $b\in B$ such that $a+b$ has a unique expression as an element of $A+B$ and $a+a$ has a unique expression as an element of $A+A$, then $A$ is a translate of $B$. We also give an explicit description of the various counterexamples which arise when neither condition holds.

Consider the system $x^2-a{y}^2=b$, $P(x,y)=z^2$, where $P$ is a given integer polynomial. Historically, the integer solutions of such systems have been investigated by many authors using the congruence arguments and the quadratic reciprocity. In this paper, we use Kedlaya’s procedure and the techniques of using congruence arguments with the quadratic reciprocity to investigate the solutions of the Diophantine equation $7X^2+Y^7=Z^2$ if $(X,Y)=(L_n,F_n)$ (or $(X,Y)=(F_n,L_n)$) where $\left\{F_n\right\}$ and $\left\{L_n\right\}$ represent the sequences of Fibonacci numbers and Lucas numbers respectively....

We obtain solutions to some conjectures about the nonlinear difference equation $$x_{n+1}=\alpha +\beta x_{n-1}{\mathrm{e}}^{-x_n},n=0,1,\cdots ,\alpha ,\beta >0.$$ More precisely, we get not only a condition under which the equilibrium point of the above equation is globally asymptotically stable but also a condition under which the above equation has a unique positive cycle of prime period two. We also prove some further results.

We show that if A and B are finite sets of real numbers, then the number of triples (a,b,c) ∈ A × B × (A ∪ B) with a + b = 2c is at most (0.15+o(1))(|A|+|B|)² as |A| + |B| → ∞. As a corollary, if A is antisymmetric (that is, A ∩ (-A) = ∅), then there are at most (0.3+o(1))|A|² triples (a,b,c) with a,b,c ∈ A and a - b = 2c. In the general case where A is not necessarily antisymmetric, we show that the number of triples (a,b,c) with a,b,c ∈ A and a - b = 2c is at most (0.5+o(1))|A|². These estimates...

Let $G$ be a group and let $X$ be a finite subset. The isoperimetric method investigates the objective function $\left|\right(XB)\setminus X|$, defined on the subsets $X$ with $\left|X\right|\ge k$ and $|G\setminus (XB\left)\right|\ge k$, where $XB$ is the product of $X$ by $B$.In this paper we present all the basic facts about the isoperimetric method. We improve some of our previous results and obtain generalizations and short proofs for several known results. We also give some new applications.Some of the results obtained here will be used in coming papers to improve Kempermann structure...