On Sequences, Rational Functions and Decomposition

Our overall goal is to unify and extend some results in the literature related to the approximation of generating functions of finite and infinite sequences over a field by rational functions. In our approach, numerators play a significant role. We revisit a theorem of Niederreiter on (i) linear complexities and (ii) '$n^{th}$ minimal polynomials' of an infinite sequence, proved using partial quotients. We prove (i) and its converse from first principles and generalise (ii) to rational functions where the denominator need not have minimal degree. We prove (ii) in two parts: firstly for geometric sequences and then for sequences with a jump in linear complexity. The basic idea is to decompose the denominator as a sum of polynomial multiples of two polynomials of minimal degree; there is a similar decomposition for the numerators. The decomposition is unique when the denominator has degree at most the length of the sequence. The proof also applies to rational functions related to finite sequences, generalising a result of Massey. We give a number of applications to rational functions associated to sequences.Comment: Several more typos corrected. To appear in J. Applied Algebra in Engineering, Communication and Computing. The final publication version is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00200-015-0256-

Minimal Polynomial Algorithms for Finite Sequences

We show that a straightforward rewrite of a known minimal polynomial algorithm yields a simpler version of a recent algorithm of A. Salagean.Comment: Section 2 added, remarks and references expanded. To appear in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory

Drift-Diffusion in Mangled Worlds Quantum Mechanics

In Everett's many worlds interpretation, where quantum measurements are seen as decoherence events, inexact decoherence may let large worlds mangle the memories of observers in small worlds, creating a cutoff in observable world size. I solve a growth-drift-diffusion-absorption model of such a mangled worlds scenario, and show that it reproduces the Born probability rule closely, though not exactly. Thus deviations from exact decoherence can allow the Born rule to be derived in a many worlds approach via world counting, using a finite number of worlds and no new fundamental physics

Vacuum polarization energy of the Shifman-Voloshin soliton

We compute the vacuum polarization energy of soliton configurations in a model with two scalar fields in one space dimension using spectral methods. The second field represents an extension of the conventional $\phi^4$ kink soliton model. We find that the vacuum polarization energy destabilizes the soliton except when the fields have identical masses. In that case the model is equivalent to two independent $\phi^4$ models.Comment: nine pape