scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1391698
The author studies the Ducci-process \(D_m\) introduced by A. Engel in 1991 and defined by \(D(X)= D_m (x_1,\dots, x_n)= (x_1+x_2, x_2+x_3,\dots, x_m+x_1)\pmod m\), where \(X= (x_1,\dots, x_m)\in \mathbb{Z}^m\). The successive iteration of \(D\) will eventually repeat, resulting in a cycle. In 1937 E. Ducci considered \(D(X)= (|x_1-x_2|, |x_2-x_3|,\dots, |x_m-x_1|)\), which has been since extensively studied. In the very interesting paper under review the iterated operator \(D^j\) defined by \(D^j(X)= D(D^{j-1}(X))\) is studied especially for \(m=5\). Let \(\operatorname {SUM}(2i)= 2^{2i-4}F_2+ 2^{2i-6}F_4+\cdots+ 2^2F_{2i-4}+ F_{2i-2}\), where \(F_n\) stand for the Fibonacci numbers. Let \(H(X)= (x_2, x_3,\dots, x_n,x_1)\). Then the following surprising result holds: \[ D^{2i}(A)= (\operatorname {SUM}(2i)) (1,1,1,1,1)+ H^i(F_{2i+1}, F_{2i},0,0, F_{2i}), \] with \(A=(1,0,0,0,0)\). Many properties of \(\operatorname {SUM}(2i)\) and related functions involving elementary divisibility and congruence theory are pointed out. The reviewer thinks that this beautiful paper will inspire new research.
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