Properties of a certain Lyness equation (Q1381597)

The authors consider the difference equation \(x_{n+1}= (a+ \sum_{i=0}^{k-1} b_i x_{n-i})/x_{n-k}\) where \(a,b_i\geq 0\) and \(a+ \sum_{i=0}^{k-1} b_i> 0\). The oscillation, cycle length, and extreme values of solutions are investigated in detail. It has been proved that for \(a> 0\), every semicycle has no more than \(2k+1\) terms. In this paper it is shown by examples that this conclusion does not hold when \(a=0\). Some further estimates are obtained for the cases that \(k=1\) and 2. The general problem on cycle length for \(a=0\) remains open.