A384212 a(n) is the number of bases >= 2 in which the alternating sum of digits of n is equal to 0.

0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 4, 1, 2, 3, 3, 1, 4, 1, 3, 2, 2, 1, 6, 2, 2, 3, 4, 1, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2, 2, 7, 1, 2, 3, 6, 1, 5, 1, 4, 5, 2, 1, 8, 2, 3, 3, 4, 1, 5, 2, 6, 3, 2, 1, 9, 1, 2, 5, 5, 3, 6, 1, 4, 2, 6, 1, 10, 1, 2, 5, 4, 2, 5, 1, 8, 3, 2, 1, 8, 3, 2, 2

Offset: 1

Author

Felix Huber, May 24 2025

Keywords

• nonn
• base

Comments

The alternating sum of digits of n is equal to 1 for base n and equal to n for bases > n.

Examples

			a(72) = 10 because the alternating sum of digits of n is equal to 0 in the 10 bases 2 [1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], 3 [2, 2, 0, 0], 5 [2, 4, 2], 7 [1, 3, 2], 8 [1, 1, 0], 11 [6, 6], 17 [4, 4], 23 [3, 3], 35 [2, 2] and 71 [1, 1].
		

Links

• Felix Huber, Table of n, a(n) for n = 1..10000

Crossrefs

Cf. A055240, A061845, A225693, A135499, A135551, A384211.

Programs

Maple

A384212:=proc(n)
    local a,b,c,i;
    a:=0;
    for b from 2 to n-1 do
        c:=convert(n,'base',b);
    	   if add(c[i]*(-1)^i,i=1..nops(c))=0 then
           a:=a+1
        fi
    od;
    return a
end proc;
seq(A384212(n),n=1..87);
A384212bases:=proc(n)
    local L,b,c,i;
    L:=[];
    for b from 2 to n-1 do
        c:=convert(n,'base',b);
    	if add(c[i]*(-1)^i,i=1..nops(c))=0 then
            L:=[op(L),b,ListTools:-Reverse(c)]
        fi
    od;
    return op(L)
end proc;
A384212bases(72);

Mathematica

q[n_, b_] := Module[{d = IntegerDigits[n, b]}, Sum[(-1)^k*d[[k]], {k, 1, Length[d]}] == 0 ]; a[n_] := Count[Range[2, n-1], ?(q[n, #] &)]; Array[a, 100] (* _Amiram Eldar, May 24 2025 *)

PARI

a(n) = sum(b=2, n-1, my(d=digits(n, b)); sum(k=1, #d, (-1)^k*d[k]) == 0); \\ Michel Marcus, May 24 2025

Python

from sympy.ntheory import digits
def s(v): return sum(v[::2]) - sum(v[1::2])
def a(n): return sum(1 for b in range(2, n) if s(digits(n, b)[1:]) == 0)
print([a(n) for n in range(1, 87)]) # Michael S. Branicky, May 24 2025

Formula

Trivial bounds: 1 <= a(n) <= n - 2 for n >= 3 because the representation of n in base n-1 is [1,1] and the alternating sum of digits of n is > 0 for bases >= n.