On completely multiplicative automatic sequences (Q2182171)

A complex sequence \((a_n)_{n\in\mathbb{N}}\) is said here to be Dirichlet-like if and only if there is a Dirichlet character \(\chi\) with at most one prime \(p\) with \(a_p\neq\chi(p)\), and is trivial Dirichlet-like if this holds for the trivial Dirichlet character. It is shown here that for any completely multiplicative automatic sequence (or CMAS) \((a_n)\) there is a Dirichlet character \(\chi\) for which the product sequence \((a_n\chi(n))\) is a trivial Dirichlet-like character. The first step is to show that a CMAS is a mock characters in the terminology of \textit{J.-P. Allouche} and \textit{L. Goldmakher} [J. Number Theory 192, 356--372 (2018; Zbl 1448.11062)], with the exception of certain `almost-zero' sequences, namely those satisfying \(a_p\neq0\) for only one prime \(p\). Then it is shown that a CMAS for which the sum of \(1/p\) for primes with~\(a_p\neq1\) converges has the property that there is at most one prime \(q\) with \(a_q\neq1\) or \(0\). This is used to show that a CMAS that does not satisfy `strong aperiodicity' must have the claimed decomposition. The argument is completed by a proof that there are no strongly aperiodic CMASs.