Locally nilpotent polynomials over $\mathbb{Z}$

Abstract

For a polynomial $u(x)$ in $\mathbb{Z}[x]$ and $r\in\mathbb{Z}$, we consider the orbit of $u(x)$ at $r$, $\mathcal{O}_u(r):=\{u(r),u(u(r)),\ldots\}$. We ask two questions here: (i) what are the polynomials $u$ for which $0\in \mathcal{O}_u(r)$ and (ii) what are the polynomials for which $0\not\in \mathcal{O}_u(r)$ but, modulo every prime $p$, $0\in \mathcal{O}_u(r)$? In this paper we classify the polynomials for which (ii) holds. We also present some results for some special $r'$s for which (i) can be answered.