A106277 Number of distinct zeros of x^4-x^3-x^2-x-1 mod prime(n).

0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 0, 2, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 4, 0, 1, 0, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 2, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 1, 2, 1, 1, 0, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3, 0, 0

Offset

1,10

Comments

This polynomial is the characteristic polynomial of the Fibonacci and Lucas 4-step sequences, A000078 and A073817. Similar polynomials are treated in Serre's paper. The discriminant of the polynomial is -563 and 563 is the only prime for which the polynomial has 3 distinct zeros. The primes p yielding 4 distinct zeros, A106280, correspond to the periods of the sequences A000078(k) mod p and A073817(k) mod p having length less than p. The Lucas 4-step sequence mod p has one additional prime p for which the period is less than p: the discriminant 563. For this prime, the Fibonacci 4-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^4-x^3-x^2-x-1, p]==0, cnt++ ], {x, 0, p-1}]; cnt, {n, 150}]

Prog

(Python)
from sympy.abc import x
from sympy import Poly, prime
def A106277(n): return len(Poly(x*(x*(x*(x-1)-1)-1)-1, x, modulus=prime(n)).ground_roots()) # Chai Wah Wu, Mar 29 2024

Crossrefs

Cf. A106296 (period of the Lucas 4-step sequences mod prime(n)), A106283 (prime moduli for which the polynomial is irreducible).

Sequence in context: A164272 A164273 A307694 * A088627 A230205 A334841

Adjacent sequences: A106274 A106275 A106276 * A106278 A106279 A106280

Keyword

nonn

Author

T. D. Noe, May 02 2005

Status

approved