Fast Computation of the N-th Term of a q-Holonomic Sequence and Applications
In 1977, Strassen invented a famous baby-step/giant-step algorithm that computes the factorial N! in arithmetic complexity quasi-linear in √(N). In 1988, the Chudnovsky brothers generalized Strassen's algorithm to the computation of the N-th term of any holonomic sequence in essentially the same arithmetic complexity. We design q-analogues of these algorithms. We first extend Strassen's algorithm to the computation of the q-factorial of N, then Chudnovskys' algorithm to the computation of the N-th term of any q-holonomic sequence. Both algorithms work in arithmetic complexity quasi-linear in √(N); surprisingly, they are simpler than their analogues in the holonomic case. We provide a detailed cost analysis, in both arithmetic and bit complexity models. Moreover, we describe various algorithmic consequences, including the acceleration of polynomial and rational solving of linear q-differential equations, and the fast evaluation of large classes of polynomials, including a family recently considered by Nogneng and Schost.
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