Infinite Barker series (Q1035587)

A polynomial \(p(z)=a_n z^n+a_{n-1} z^{n-1} + \cdots + a_0\) is a \textit{Littlewood polynomial} if \(a_k=\pm 1\) for all \(k\). Let \(p(z)p(1/z)=c_n z^n + c_{n-1} z^{n-1} + \cdots + c_{-n} z^{-n}.\) Then \(p(z)\) is a \textit{Barker polynomial} if \(|c_k|\leq 1\) for \(k\neq 0.\) The author generalizes these definitions to infinite series as follows. A series of the form \(f(z)=\pm 1 \pm z\pm z^2\pm\cdots\) is a \textit{Littlewood series}. Let \(f(z)f(-z)=c_0 + c_1 z+c_2 z^2+\cdots\); if \(|c_k|\leq 1\) for all \(k,\) then \(f(z)\) is a \textit{Barker series}. The main result of this paper is a characterization of all Barker series. Specifically, if \(f(z)=\sum a_i z^i\) is a Barker series with \(a_0=a_1=1,\) then there exists a unique odd number \(r\geq 3\) such that \(f(z)=(1+z+\cdots +z^{r-1})g(-z^r)\), where \(g(z)=\sum b_i z^i\) is a Barker series with \(b_0=b_1=1\). Consequently, one can associate to each Barker series a uniquely determined sequence of odd numbers. The proof of this result is self-contained and relatively elementary. A series \(f(z)=\sum a_i z^i\) is called a \textit{height one Taylor series} if \(a_i\in\{0,\pm 1\}\) for all \(i.\) The remainder of the paper is devoted to the problem of finding all height one Taylor series \(f\) such that \(f(z)f(-z)=P(z)\) for some series \(P.\) The author solves this problem for \(P(z)=\frac{1}{1-z^{2n}},\) \(P(z)=\frac{1-z^{2k}}{1-z^{2n}}\), and \(P(z)=\frac{1}{1-z^2}-4z^2\).