PROCEEDINGS OF THE

AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

Volume 135, Number 4, April 2007, Pages 11331140
S 0002-9939(06)08580-7
Article electronically published on October 4, 2006

THE GLOBAL ATTRACTIVITY

ynk
OF THE RATIONAL DIFFERENCE EQUATION yn = 1 + ynm

KENNETH S. BERENHAUT, JOHN D. FOLEY, AND STEVO STEVIC

(Communicated by Carmen C. Chicone)

Abstract. This paper studies the behavior of positive solutions of the recur-
sive equation
ynk
yn = 1 + , n = 0, 1, 2, . . . ,
ynm
with ys , ys+1 , . . . , y1 (0, ) and k, m {1, 2, 3, 4, . . .}, where s =
max{k, m}. We prove that if gcd(k, m) = 1, with k odd, then yn tends
to 2, exponentially. When combined with a recent result of E. A. Grove
and G. Ladas (Periodicities in Nonlinear Dierence Equations, Chapman &
Hall/CRC Press, Boca Raton (2004)), this answers the question when y = 2
is a global attractor.

1. Introduction
This paper studies the behavior of positive solutions of the recursive equation
ynk
(1) yn = 1 + , n = 0, 1, . . . ,
ynm
with ys , ys+1 , . . . , y1 (0, ) and k, m {1, 2, 3, 4, . . .}, where s = max{k, m}.
The study of properties of rational dierence equations has been an area of
intense interest in recent years; cf. [7], [8] and the references therein.
In [9], the authors proved that if (k, m) = (2, 3), then every positive solution of
(1) converges to a period two solution. More generally, it follows from Theorem 5.3
in [7] that if k is even and m is odd, then every positive solution of (1) converges
to a nonnegative periodic solution with period 2 gcd(m, k). For a discussion of
related equations, see also [1], [2], [3], [4], [6] and [11]. Here we prove the following
complimentary result which answers the question when y = 2 is a global attractor.
Theorem 1. Suppose that gcd(m, k) = 1 and that {yi } satises (1) with ys ,
ys+1 , . . . , y1 (0, ) where s = max{m, k}. Then, if k is odd, the sequence {yi }
converges to the unique equilibrium 2.
The paper proceeds as follows. In Section 2, we introduce some preliminary
lemmas and notation. Section 3 contains a proof of Theorem 1, while in Section

Received by the editors September 7, 2005 and, in revised form, November 11, 2005.
2000 Mathematics Subject Classication. Primary 39A10, 39A11.
Key words and phrases. Dierence equation, stability, exponential convergence, periodic
solution.
The rst author acknowledges nancial support from a Sterge Faculty Fellowship.

2006
c American Mathematical Society
Reverts to public domain 28 years from publication

1133

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 1134
K. S. BERENHAUT, J. D. FOLEY, AND S. STEVIC

4, exponential convergence of solutions to (1) is examined. Section 5 then com-

bines Theorem 1 with existing results to fully determine the periodic character for
solutions to equation (1).

2. Preliminaries and notation

In this section, we introduce some preliminary lemmas and notation. Since the
case k = m is trivial, we will assume, throughout, that k = m.
First, consider the transformed sequence {yi } dened by


yi , if yi 2,
(2) yi =
3 yi11 , otherwise,

for i 0. As well, dene the sequence {i } via i = |2 yi | for i 0. The following

inequality will be crucial to our arguments.

Lemma 1. We have

(3) n max{nk , nm },

for all n s.

Proof. Suppose that

(4) max{nk , nm } < n .

If yn > 2, then (4) implies that ynk < yn and ynm > yn11 + 1. To see the second
inequality note that the result is trivial when ynm 2, and if ynm 2, then it

follows from (2) and the fact that yn 2 > 2 ynm = ynm1
1 1. Hence,

ynk yn
(5) yn = 1 + <1+ 1 = yn .
ynm yn 1 + 1
1
Similarly, if yn < 2, we have ynk > yn and ynm < yn 1 + 1, and hence,
ynk yn
(6) yn = 1 + >1+ 1 = yn .
ynm yn 1 + 1

In either case, we have a contradiction, and the lemma follows.

Now, set

(7) Dn = max {i },
nsin1

for n s.
The following lemma is a simple consequence of Lemma 1 and (7).

Lemma 2. The sequence {Di } is monotonically nonincreasing in i, for i s.

Since Di 0 for i s, Lemma 2 implies that, as i tends to innity, the sequence

{Di } converges to some limit, say D, where D 0.
We now turn to a proof of Theorem 1.

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 GLOBAL ATTRACTIVITY OF A RATIONAL DIFFERENCE EQUATION 1135

3. Convergence of solutions to equation (1)

In this section, we prove Theorem 1.

Proof of Theorem 1. Note that it suces to show that the transformed sequence
{yi } converges to 2.
By the denition in (7), the values of Di are taken on by entries in the sequence
{j }, and as well, by Lemma 1, yi [2 Di , 2 + Di ] for i s. Suppose D > 0.

Then, for any  (0, D), we can nd an N such that yN [2 D , 2 D + ]

or yN [2 + D , 2 + D + ] and for i N mk s,

(8) yi [2 D , 2 + D + ].

Suppose that

(9) yN [2 + D , 2 + D + ].

Note that for  suciently small, the hypotheses above guarantee that yN k 2
and yN m 2, where at least one of the inequalities is strict. To see this, suppose
that for instance yN k 2 and yN m 2. Then
 
yN k 2+D+ D 3
(10) yN = 1 + 1+ = 2+D  < 2+D
yN m 2 2 2

for  suciently small, since D > 0. Equation (10) then contradicts the assumption
in (9). In the case yN k 2 and yN m 2, we have
1
1+
3yN 2 2

yN = 1+ 1
k
1+ 1 =1+ 1
1+
3yN m 1+ 3(2D
) 1+ 1+D+

D2 + D (3 + 2 )
(11) = 2+D <2+D
2+D+
for  suciently small, since D > 0. Again we obtain a contradiction to the
assumption in (9).
If yN k 2 and yN m 2, then yN = 1 + ynk /ynm 2, which again
contradicts (9).

Thus, assume that yN k 2 and yN m 2. Solving for yN k and yN m in

yN k yN k
(12) yN = yN = 1 + =1+ ,
yN m 1 + 3y1
N m

we have
 
1
(13) yN k = (yN 1) 1 +
3 yN m

and

1
(14) yN m = 3
yN
.
k
1
yN 1

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 1136
K. S. BERENHAUT, J. D. FOLEY, AND S. STEVIC

Employing the inequalities in (8) and (9) in (13) and (14) gives
 
1
2 + D +  yN k (1 + D ) 1 +
3 (2 D )
   
2+D+ 3+D+
= (1 + D ) =2+D
1+D+ 1+D+
 
3+D
(15) 2+D
1+D
and
1
2 D  yN m 3 2+D+

1+D
1
 
1+D 3 + 2D
= 3 =2D+
1 + 2 1 + 2
(16) 2 D + (3 + 2D).
Thus
   
3+D 3+D
(17) 2+D+ yN k 2 + D 
1+D 1+D
and

(18) 2 D (3 + 2D) yN m 2 D + (3 + 2D).

Similarly when yN [2 D , 2 D + ], yN k 2 and yN m 2, we have
   
3+D 3+D
(19) 2+D+ yN m 2 + D 
1+D 1+D
and

(20) 2 D (3 + 2D) yN k 2 D + (3 + 2D).

1+D . Then, when yN [2 + D , 2 + D + ], iterating the
Let B = 3 + 2D > 3+D
above arguments gives

2 + D + B yN k 2 + D B,

2 + D + B 2
yN 2k 2 + D B 2 ,
..
.

(21) 2 + D + B m yN mk 2 + D B m
and

2 D B yN m 2 D + B,

2 + D B 2
yN 2m 2 + D + B 2 ,
..
.

(22) 2 + (1)k D B k yN km 2 + (1)k D + B k .

mk 2 D + B and yN mk
k
Since k is odd, (21) and (22) give that yN
2 + D B . Thus, for suciently small , we obtain a contradiction to the
m

hypothesis that D > 0. A similar argument works when yN [2 D , 2 D + ],
and the result is proven.

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 GLOBAL ATTRACTIVITY OF A RATIONAL DIFFERENCE EQUATION 1137

Remark 1. Note that in (22), the parity of k was crucial to obtaining the contra-
diction to D > 0.
In the next section, we show that (for k odd), the convergence of solutions to
(1) is actually exponential.

4. Exponential convergence of solutions to (1)

In the previous section it was shown that for k odd, and gcd(k, m) = 1, all
solutions to (1) converge to the unique equilibrium. Here, we employ the following
lemma from [10] to prove that the convergence is in fact exponential.
Lemma 3. Suppose that {an } is a sequence of positive numbers which satises the
inequality
(23) an+k A max{an+k1 , an+k2 , . . . , an }
for n N, where A (0, 1) and k N are xed. Then, there exists an L R+
such that
(24) akm+r LAm ,
for all m N {0} and 1 r k.
Proof. See [10], Lemma 1.

We now prove the following.
Theorem 2. Suppose that gcd(m, k) = 1, k is odd and {yi } satises (1) with
positive initial conditions. Then yi converges to 2 exponentially.
Proof. Suppose N > mk, and set
(25) zi = 2 yN i
for 0 i mk. Now, note that
yN m yN k
z0 = 2 yN =
yN m
zk zm
(26) = .
2 zm
Applying (26) successively for i = k, 2k, 3k, . . . , (m 1)k gives
zmk 
m1
zjk+m
(27) z0 = m1 j .
v=0 (2 zvk+m ) j=0 v=0 (2 zvk+m )
Similarly, applying (26) successively for i = m, 2m, 3m, . . . , (k 1)m gives
zkm 
k1
zjm+k
(28) zm = (1)k k + (1)j j+1 .
v=2 (2 zvm ) j=1 v=2 (2 zvm )

Employing (28) in (27) gives

zmk 
m1
zjk+m
z0 = m1 j
v=0 (2 zvk+m ) j=1 v=0 (2 zvk+m )

zkm 
k1
zjm+k
(29) +(1)k k + (1)j j+1 .
v=1 (2 zvm ) j=1 v=1 (2 zvm )

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 1138
K. S. BERENHAUT, J. D. FOLEY, AND S. STEVIC

Hence, since k is odd, we have

 
 
 1 1 
|z0 | |zmk |  m1 k 
 v=0 (2 zvk+m ) (2 z vm ) 
v=1
   
m1  k1 
 zjk+m    zjm+k 
+  j  +
 
 (1) j
j+1 

 j=1 v=0 (2 zvk+m )   j=1 v=1 (2 zvm ) 

(30) CN max{|z1 |, |z2 |, . . . , |zmk+m+k |},

where
  m1  
   
def  1 1   1 
CN =  m1 k +  j 
 v=0 (2 zvk+m )   
v=1 (2 zvm ) j=1 v=0 (2 zvk+m )
 
 
k1
1 

(31) +  j+1 .
 (2 zvm ) 
j=1 v=1

Now, note that as N , zi 0 for i {1, 2, . . . , mk + m + k} and hence

setting r = 1/2, we have


m1 
k1
lim CN = |r m r k | + r j+1 + r j+1
N
j=1 j=1

= |r m
r | + 2r (1 r
k 2 m1
) + 2r 2 (1 r k1 )
(32) = |r m r k | + 1 r m r k 1 2r max{m,k} < 1.

The result then follows upon applying Lemma 3, above.

In the next section, we combine Theorem 1 with existing results to fully deter-
mine the periodic character for solutions to Equation (1).

5. The periodic character of equation (1)

In this section we combine a recent theorem of Grove and Ladas with the result
in Theorem 1 to determine the periodic character of equation (1).
First, note that (as in [5]), if g = gcd(m, k) > 1, then {yi } can be separated into
g dierent equations of the form
(j)
yn k
(33) yn(j) = 1+ (j)
g
,
yn m
g

where j {1, 2, . . . , g}. Hence, we may assume that gcd(m, k) = 1.

In [7] the authors proved the following.

Theorem 3. Suppose that gcd(m, k) = 1 with k 2 even and m 1 odd. Then

every positive solution of (1) converges to a nonnegative solution of (1) with period
2.

Proof. See [7], Theorem 5.3.

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 GLOBAL ATTRACTIVITY OF A RATIONAL DIFFERENCE EQUATION 1139

The next theorem follows upon application of Theorems 1, 2 and 3.

Theorem 4. Suppose that 2i m (i.e. 2i is the largest power of 2 which divides m).
Then, every solution of (1) converges to a period t solution, where t is given by


1, if 2i+1  |k,
(34) t=
2 gcd(m, k), otherwise.

Additionally, if t = 1, then all solutions converge exponentially to the value 2.

Remark 2. Note that the argument used to prove Theorem 1 can be modied to
show that in the case that gcd(m, k) = 1 with k even, the period two solution for
{yn } is in fact of the form

(35) . . . , 2 D, 2 + D, 2 D, 2 + D, . . . ,

where D is dened as in Section 2.

Acknowledgements
We are very thankful to a referee for comments and insights that substantially
improved this manuscript.

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Department of Mathematics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Car-

olina 27109
E-mail address: berenhks@wfu.edu

Department of Mathematics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Car-

olina 27109
E-mail address: folejd4@wfu.edu

Mathematical Institute of Serbian Academy of Science, Knez Mihailova 35/I 11000

Beograd, Serbia
E-mail address: sstevic@ptt.yu
E-mail address: sstevo@matf.bg.ac.yu

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