On the non-holonomic character of logarithms, powers, and the \(n\)th prime function (Q2570990): Difference between revisions

A sequence \(\left( f_n \right)_{ n \geq 0 }\) is holonomic (or \(P\)-recursive) if \[ p_0(n) f_{ n+d } + p_1(n) f_{ n+d-1 } + \cdots + p_d(n) f_n = 0 , \qquad n \geq 0, \] for some polynomials \(p_j\). Many combinatorial sequences of common interest, e.g., a wide class of sums involving binomial coefficients, are holonomic. The article constructs an analytic machinery for proving that a sequence is \textit{not} holonomic. It confirms three open conjectures, namely that the sequences \(\left( \log n \right)\), \(\left( n^\alpha \right)\) for a fixed \(\alpha \in {\mathbf C} \setminus {\mathbf Z}\), and the sequence of primes are not holonomic.