Applicability of the $q$-Analogue of Zeilberger's Algorithm

Abstract

The applicability or terminating condition for the ordinary case of Zeilberger's algorithm was recently obtained by Abramov. For the $q$-analogue, the question of whether a bivariate $q$-hypergeometric term has a $qZ$-pair remains open. Le has found a solution to this problem when the given bivariate $q$-hypergeometric term is a rational function in certain powers of $q$. We solve the problem for the general case by giving a characterization of bivariate $q$-hypergeometric terms for which the $q$-analogue of Zeilberger's algorithm terminates. Moreover, we give an algorithm to determine whether a bivariate $q$-hypergeometric term has a $qZ$-pair.