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Discrete Differential Equations (DDEs) are functional equations that relate polynomially a power series $F(t,u)$ in $t$ with polynomial coefficients in a "catalytic" variable $u$ and the specializations, say at $u=1$, of $F(t,u)$ and of some of its partial derivatives in $u$. DDEs occur frequently in combinatorics, especially in map enumeration. If a DDE is of fixed-point type then its solution $F(t,u)$ is unique, and a general result by Popescu (1986) implies that $F(t,u)$ is an algebraic power series. Constructive proofs of algebraicity for solutions of fixed-point type DDEs were proposed by Bousquet-M\'elou and Jehanne (2006). Bostan et. al (2022) initiated a systematic algorithmic study of such DDEs of order 1. We generalize this study to DDEs of arbitrary order. First, we propose nontrivial extensions of algorithms based on polynomial elimination and on the guess-and-prove paradigm. Second, we design two brand-new algorithms that exploit the special structure of the underlying polynomial systems. Last, but not least, we report on implementations that are able to solve highly challenging DDEs with a combinatorial origin., Comment: 11 pages, revised version

While discrete harmonic functions have been objects of interest for quite some time, this is not the case for discrete polyharmonic functions, as appear for instance in the asymptotics of path counting problems. In this article, a novel method to compute all discrete polyharmonic functions in the quarter plane for non-singular models with small steps and zero drift is proposed. In case of a finite group, an alternative method using decoupling functions is given, which often leads to a basis consisting of rational functions. In a similar manner one can obtain polyharmonic functions in the continuous setting, and convergence between the discrete and continuous cases is proven. Lastly, using a concrete example it is shown why the decoupling approach seems not to work in the infinite group case., Comment: Submitted to the EJC (Electronic Journal of Combinatorics)

We investigate polyharmonic functions associated to Brownian motions and random walks in cones. These are functions which cancel some power of the usual Laplacian in the continuous setting and of the discrete Laplacian in the discrete setting. We show that polyharmonic functions naturally appear while considering asymptotic expansions of the heat kernel in the Brownian case and in lattice walk enumeration problems. We provide a method to construct general polyharmonic functions through Laplace transforms and generating functions in the continuous and discrete cases, respectively. This is done by using a functional equation approach., LIPIcs, Vol. 159, 31st International Conference on Probabilistic, Combinatorial and Asymptotic Methods for the Analysis of Algorithms (AofA 2020), pages 9:1-9:19

We initiate the study of spectral zeta functions $\zeta_{X}$ for finite and infinite graphs $X$, instead of the Ihara zeta function, with a perspective towards zeta functions from number theory and connections to hypergeometric functions. The Riemann hypothesis is shown to be equivalent to an approximate functional equation of graph zeta functions. The latter holds at all points where Riemann's zeta function $\zeta(s)$ is non-zero. This connection arises via a detailed study of the asymptotics of the spectral zeta functions of finite torus graphs in the critcal strip and estimates on the real part of the logarithmic derivative of $\zeta(s)$. We relate $\zeta_{\mathbb{Z}}$ to Euler's beta integral and show how to complete it giving the functional equation $\xi_{\mathbb{Z}}(1-s)=\xi_{\mathbb{Z}}(s)$. This function appears in the theory of Eisenstein series although presumably with this spectral intepretation unrecognized. In higher dimensions $d$ we provide a meromorphic continuation of $\zeta_{\mathbb{Z}^{d}}(s)$ to the whole plane and identify the poles. From our aymptotics several known special values of $\zeta(s)$ are derived as well as its non-vanishing on the line $Re(s)=1$. We determine the spectral zeta functions of regular trees and show it to be equal to a specialization of Appell's hypergeometric function $F_{1}$ via an Euler-type integral formula due to Picard., Comment: 25 pages, no figures