Mellin Transforms and Asymptotics: Finite Differences and Rice's Integrals

High order differences of simple number sequences may be analysed asymptotically by means of integral representations, residue calculus, and contour integration. This technique, akin to Mellin transform asymptotics, is put in perspective and illustrated by means of several examples related to combinatorics and the analysis of algorithms like digital tries, digital search trees, quadtrees, and distributed leader election.

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