Kohen's first-zero bound conjecture for univariate constant term sequences

Let PP be a univariate Laurent polynomial and let pp be prime. For the constant term sequence Ap(n)=ct[Pn]modpA_p(n)=\operatorname{ct}[P^n]\bmod p, suppose there exists some nNn\in\mathbb{N} such that pct[Pn]p\mid\operatorname{ct}[P^n]. Kohen's first-zero bound conjecture. The bound in Proposition 6 holds with

BP,p=pdeg(P),B_{P,p}=p^{\deg(P)},

so there exists an n0<BP,pn_0<B_{P,p} such that pct[Pn0]p\mid\operatorname{ct}[P^{n_0}]. This conjecture sharpens the general automaton-theoretic bound for the location of the first zero; it was suggested by computational experiments in the univariate case, and no proof or counterexample is given here.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Justin Offutt, “Automatic Bounds on Constant Term Sequences Modulo Primes”, arXiv:2504.19031 (2025).

Additional references

2 papers in this index state this conjecture (2025). The statement above is taken from the most recent of them; the others are arXiv:2503.21988.

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