A106276 Number of distinct zeros of x^3-x^2-x-1 mod prime(n).

1, 0, 0, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 3, 3, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 3, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 3, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 3, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 3, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 1, 3, 3, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 3, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Offset

1,5

Comments

This polynomial is the characteristic polynomial of the Fibonacci and Lucas 3-step recursions, A000073 and A001644. Similar polynomials are treated in Serre's paper. The discriminant of the polynomial is -44 = -4*11. The primes p yielding 3 distinct zeros, A106279, correspond to the periods of the sequences A000073(k) mod p and A001644(k) mod p having length less than p. The Lucas 3-step sequence mod p has two additional primes p for which the period is less than p: 2 and 11, which are factors of the discriminant -44. For p=11, the Fibonacci 3-step sequence mod p has a period of p(p-1).

Links

Table of n, a(n) for n=1..105.

J.-P. Serre, On a theorem of Jordan, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc., 40 (No. 4, 2003), 429-440, see p. 433.

Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Fibonacci n-Step Number.

Mathematica

Table[p=Prime[n]; cnt=0; Do[If[Mod[x^3-x^2-x-1, p]==0, cnt++ ], {x, 0, p-1}]; cnt, {n, 150}]

Crossrefs

Cf. A106273 (discriminant of the polynomial x^n-x^(n-1)-...-x-1), A106293 (period of the Lucas 3-step sequences mod prime(n)), A106282 (prime moduli for which the polynomial is irreducible).

Sequence in context: A056226 A044935 A321920 * A305053 A353454 A276799

Adjacent sequences: A106273 A106274 A106275 * A106277 A106278 A106279

Keyword

nonn

Author

T. D. Noe, May 02 2005

Status

approved