Polynomial solutions of a nonlinear difference equation (Q2248966)

The paper is mainly concerned with the existence of polynomial solutions for the nonlinear functional (difference) equation \(A_{n+1} \Delta y = A_n y^n +A_{n-1} y^{n-1} +\dots +A_1 y +A_0, \) where \(n\geq 2\) is an integer, \(\Delta\) is the forward difference operator acting in the form \((\Delta y)(x)=y(x+1)-y(x)\) and \(A_j\) is a polynomial in \(x\) with complex coefficients, \(j=0,1,\dots, n+1,\) with \(A_n\) and \(A_{n+1}\) nontrivial. The authors prove that the equation admits a finite number of polynomial solutions and present an algorithm to compute them in a systematic fashion. Moreover, they show that if \(A_{n+1}=A_{n+1}(x)\) or \(A_{n}=A_{n}(x)\) is a constant polynomial, then every rational solution of the equation is a polynomial.