The n-number game for real numbers (Q1101496)

Given an n-tuple of real numbers \(S=S_ 0=(x_ 1,x_ 2,...,x_ n)\) we obtain a sequence of n-tuples \(S_ 0,S_ 1,S_ 2,..\). defined by the rule \(S_{k+1}=DS_ k\), where the operator D is defined by \(D(a_ 1,a_ 2,...,a_ n) = (| a_ 1-a_ 2|, | a_ 2-a_ 3|,...,| a_ n-a_ 1|)\). Such a sequence may terminate in all zeros, cycle, or continue indefinitely without repeating. Questions concerning the dimension of \(S=S_ 0\) which produce cycles are studied in the paper. E.g. it is shown: If \(n=2^ r(2N+1)\), \(N\neq 0\) then the set of S, which produce cycle sequences, contains at most \(2^ r+1\) essentially distinct elements.