Blending two discrete integrability criteria: Singularity confinement and algebraic entropy

Abstract

We confront two integrability criteria for rational mappings. The first is the singularity confinement based on the requirement that every singularity, spontaneously appearing during the iteration of a mapping, disappear after some steps. The second recently proposed is the algebraic entropy criterion associated to the growth of the degree of the iterates. The algebraic entropy results confirm the previous findings of singularity confinement on discrete Painlev\'e equations. The degree-growth methods are also applied to linearisable systems. The result is that systems integrable through linearisation have a slower growth than systems integrable through isospectral methods. This may provide a valuable detector of not just integrability but also of the precise integration method. We propose an extension of the Gambier mapping in $N$ dimensions. Finally a dual strategy for the investigation of the integrability of discrete systems is proposed based on both singularity confinement and the low growth requirement.