Repeated principal indefinite summation

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Authors: Thomas Lamby, Jean‐Luc Marichal
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Under suitable asymptotic and convexity conditions on a function $g\colon\mathbb{R}_+\to\mathbb{R}$, the solution to $Δf=g$, where $Δ$ is the forward difference operator, is unique up to an additive constant and is called the principal indefinite sum of $g$, generalizing the additive form of Bohr-Mollerup's theorem. We consider the map $Σ$, which assigns to each admissible function $g$ its principal indefinite sum that vanishes at $1$, and we naturally explore its iterates, which produce repeated principal indefinite sums, in analogy with the concept of repeated indefinite integrals. Explicit formulas and convergence results are established, highlighting connections with classical combinatorial and special functions, including the multiple gamma functions, for which we also provide integral representations.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Mathematical Inequalities and Applications Mathematical functions and polynomials Analytic Number Theory Research

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
26 February 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint