Suppose that we would like to find all nonnegative integer solutions of
Let's assume that is a solution of the above equation. Then, it can be verified that and are also solutions of the equation. Let's define this generating process as the evolution of .
Surprisingly, we can find all solutions uniquely by choosing some seeds and evolving them repeatedly.
[a seed is a solution of the equation.]
For example, when , we can choose as .
Let be the minimum number of seeds needed to enumerate all nonnegative integer solutions of the equation.