Generalizing Zeckendorf's Theorem to Homogeneous Linear Recurrences, II

Abstract

Zeckendorf's theorem states that every positive integer can be written uniquely as the sum of non-consecutive shifted Fibonacci numbers $\{F_n\}$, where we take $F_1=1$ and $F_2=2$. This has been generalized for any Positive Linear Recurrence Sequence (PLRS), which informally is a sequence satisfying a homogeneous linear recurrence with a positive leading coefficient and non-negative integer coefficients. In this and the preceding paper we provide two approaches to investigate linear recurrences with leading coefficient zero, followed by non-negative integer coefficients, with differences between indices relatively prime (abbreviated ZLRR), via two different approaches. The first approach involves generalizing the definition of a legal decomposition for a PLRS found in Kolo\u{g}lu, Kopp, Miller and Wang. We prove that every positive integer $N$ has a legal decomposition for any ZLRR using the greedy algorithm. We also show that a specific family of ZLRRs lost uniqueness of decompositions. The second approach converts a ZLRR to a PLRR that has the same growth rate. We develop the Zeroing Algorithm, a powerful helper tool for analyzing the behavior of linear recurrence sequences. We use it to prove a very general result that guarantees the possibility of conversion between certain recurrences, and develop a method to quickly determine whether a sequence diverges to $+\infty$ or $-\infty$, given any real initial values. This paper investigates the second approach.