The length of Ducci's four-number game (Q2477948)

Define \(T:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}^4\) by the formula \[ T(a,b,c,d)=(| b-a| ,| c-b| ,| d-c| ,| d-a| ). \] For each vector \(v \in \mathbb{R}^4\), the sequence \((T^n(v))_{n\geq0}\) is known as a Ducci sequence, or a four-number game. The minimal \(n\geq 0\) for which \(T^n(v)=0\) is called the length of \(v\), and is denoted by \(L(v)\). If no such \(n\) exists, then \(v\) is said to have infinite length. The present paper deals with the problem of estimating the length of a Ducci sequence in terms of the Euclidean distance from the unique normalized vector of infinite length \(v_\infty \), which will be defined below. Examples of Ducci sequences include the family of Tribonacci vectors, whose coordinates are formed by four consecutive members of a Tribonacci sequence. The length of these vectors is easily computed and seen to be finite but unbounded. In general, the task of estimating the length of a Ducci sequence can be reduced to the case where the vector \(v\) is normalized in a suitable sense. Let \(v_\infty=(0,\frac{6-r^2}{2},\frac{r^2-2r}{2},1)\), where \(r\) is the unique real zero of \(x^3-4x-4\). The authors prove that there exist constants \(c_1\) and \(c_2\) such that if the normalized vector \(v\) has Euclidean distance \(d\) from \(v_\infty \), then the length \(L(v)\) satisfies \[ c_1<L(v)-\frac{2\log{d^{-1}}}{\log(r+1)}<c_2. \] Moreover, the constants \(c_1\) and \(c_2\) can be taken to be \(-2.4\) and \(8.4\), respectively. This result has to be viewed in the context of Lotan's theorem [\textit{M. Lotan}, Am. Math. Mon. 56, 535--541 (1949; Zbl 0035.15703)], for which a short proof is given at the very end of the paper. It states that (up to a suitably defined equivalence) there is only one vector of infinite length. The unique normalized vector of infinite length is \(v_\infty\) as defined above.