The unfair 0-1-polynomial conjecture

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Let X,YX,Y be discrete independent random variables with finite support in the natural numbers, and suppose that Z=X+YZ=X+Y is uniform on its support. Equivalently, let R(t)=P(t)Q(t)R(t)=P(t)Q(t) be a product of monic polynomials with nonnegative real coefficients, where every coefficient of RR is either 00 or 11. The unfair 0-1-polynomial conjecture. The random variables XX and YY are uniform on their respective supports; equivalently, every coefficient of PP and QQ belongs to {0,1}\{0,1\}. This is the problem of whether unfairly weighted dice can have a uniformly distributed sum, or equivalently whether a 0-1-polynomial can have a factorization into monic polynomials with nonnegative real coefficients that are not both 0-1-polynomials. The paper studies a first infinite family of cases, but the general problem remains open.

References

Primary source

Luca Ghidelli, “Progress on the unfair 0-1-polynomials conjecture using linear recurrences and numerical analysis”, arXiv:2209.09843 (2022).

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