arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Armin Straub.
It is well-known that the Apéry sequences which arise in the irrationality proofs for $ζ(2)$ and $ζ(3)$ satisfy many intriguing arithmetic properties and are related to the $p$th Fourier coefficients of modular forms. In this paper, we prove that the connection to modular forms persists for sequences associated to Brown's cellular integrals and state a general conjecture concerning supercongruences.
We consider asymptotics of power series coefficients of rational functions of the form $1/Q$ where $Q$ is a symmetric multilinear polynomial. We review a number of such cases from the literature, chiefly concerned either with positivity of coefficients or diagonal asymptotics. We then analyze coefficient asymptotics using ACSV (Analytic Combinatorics in Several Variables) methods. While ACSV sometimes requires considerable overhead and geometric computation, in the case of symmetric multilinear rational functions there are some reductions that streamline the analysis. Our results include diagonal asymptotics across entire classes of functions, for example the general 3-variable case and the Gillis-Reznick-Zeilberger (GRZ) case, where the denominator in terms of elementary symmetric functions is $1 - e_1 + c e_d$ in any number $d$ of variables. The ACSV analysis also explains a discontinuous drop in exponential growth rate for the GRZ class at the parameter value $c = (d-1)^{d-1}$, previously observed for $d=4$ only by separately computing diagonal recurrences for critical and noncritical values of $c$.
We review recent development of short uniform random walks, with a focus on its connection to (zeta) Mahler measures and modular parametrisation of the density functions. Furthermore, we extend available "probabilistic" techniques to cover a variation of random walks and reduce some three-variable Mahler measures, which are conjectured to evaluate in terms of $L$-values of modular forms, to hypergeometric form.
We consider a family of polynomial analogs of the Apéry numbers, which includes $q$-analogs of Krattenthaler--Rivoal--Zudilin and Zheng, and show that the supercongruences that Gessel and Mimura established for the Apéry numbers generalize to these polynomials. Our proof relies on polynomial analogs of classical binomial congruences of Wolstenholme and Ljunggren. We further indicate that this approach generalizes to other supercongruence results.
Loeb showed that a natural extension of the usual binomial coefficient to negative (integer) entries continues to satisfy many of the fundamental properties. In particular, he gave a uniform binomial theorem as well as a combinatorial interpretation in terms of choosing subsets of sets with a negative number of elements. We show that all of this can be extended to the case of Gaussian binomial coefficients. Moreover, we demonstrate that several of the well-known arithmetic properties of binomial coefficients also hold in the case of negative entries. In particular, we show that Lucas' Theorem on binomial coefficients modulo $p$ not only extends naturally to the case of negative entries, but even to the Gaussian case.
We prove a supercongruence modulo $p^3$ between the $p$th Fourier coefficient of a weight 6 modular form and a truncated ${}_6F_5$-hypergeometric series. Novel ingredients in the proof are the comparison of two rational approximations to $ζ(3)$ to produce non-trivial harmonic sum identities and the reduction of the resulting congruences between harmonic sums via a congruence between the Apéry numbers and another Apéry-like sequence.
We investigate necessary as well as sufficient conditions under which the Laurent series coefficients $f_{\boldsymbol{n}}$ associated to a multivariate rational function satisfy Gauss congruences, that is $f_{\boldsymbol{m}p^r} \equiv f_{\boldsymbol{m}p^{r-1}}$ modulo $p^r$. For instance, we show that these congruences hold for certain determinants of logarithmic derivatives. As an application, we completely classify rational functions $P/Q$ satisfying the Gauss congruences in the case that $Q$ is linear in each variable.
Ramanujan made many beautiful and elegant discoveries in his short life of 32 years, and one of them that has attracted the attention of several mathematicians over the years is his intriguing formula for $ζ(2n+1)$. To be sure, Ramanujan's formula does not possess the elegance of Euler's formula for $ζ(2n)$, nor does it provide direct arithmetical information. But, one of the goals of this survey is to convince readers that it is indeed a remarkable formula. In particular, we discuss the history of Ramanujan's formula, its connection to modular forms, as well as the remarkable properties of the associated polynomials. We also indicate analogues, generalizations and opportunities for further research.
Special arithmetic series $f(x)=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}c_nx^n$, whose coefficients $c_n$ are normally given as certain binomial sums, satisfy "self-replicating" functional identities. For example, the equation $$\frac1{(1+4z)^2}f\biggl(\frac{z}{(1+4z)^3}\biggr)=\frac1{(1+2z)^2}f\biggl(\frac{z^2}{(1+2z)^3}\biggr)$$ generates a modular form $f(x)$ of weight 2 and level 7, when a related modular parametrization $x=x(τ)$ is properly chosen. In this note we investigate the potential of describing modular forms by such self-replicating equations as well as applications of the equations that do not make use of the modularity. In particular, we outline a new recipe of generating AGM-type algorithms for computing $π$ and other related constants. Finally, we indicate some possibilities to extend the functional equations to a two-variable setting.
A special case of an elegant result due to Anderson proves that the number of $(s,s+1)$-core partitions is finite and is given by the Catalan number $C_s$. Amdeberhan recently conjectured that the number of $(s,s+1)$-core partitions into distinct parts equals the Fibonacci number $F_{s+1}$. We prove this conjecture by enumerating, more generally, $(s,ds-1)$-core partitions into distinct parts. We do this by relating them to certain tuples of nested twin-free sets. As a by-product of our results, we obtain a bijection between partitions into distinct parts and partitions into odd parts, which preserves the perimeter (that is, the largest part plus the number of parts minus $1$). This simple but curious analog of Euler's theorem appears to be missing from the literature on partitions.
In his third notebook, Ramanujan claims that $$ \int_0^\infty \frac{\cos(nx)}{x^2+1} \log x \,\mathrm{d} x + \fracπ{2} \int_0^\infty \frac{\sin(nx)}{x^2+1} \mathrm{d} x = 0. $$ In a following cryptic line, which only became visible in a recent reproduction of Ramanujan's notebooks, Ramanujan indicates that a similar relation exists if $\log x$ were replaced by $\log^2x$ in the first integral and $\log x$ were inserted in the integrand of the second integral. One of the goals of the present paper is to prove this claim by contour integration. We further establish general theorems similarly relating large classes of infinite integrals and illustrate these by several examples.
We study arithmetic properties of short uniform random walks in arbitrary dimensions, with a focus on explicit (hypergeometric) evaluations of the moment functions and probability densities in the case of up to five steps. Somewhat to our surprise, we are able to provide complete extensions to arbitrary dimensions for most of the central results known in the two-dimensional case.
We consider differences between $\log Γ(x)$ and truncations of certain classical asymptotic expansions in inverse powers of $x-λ$ whose coefficients are expressed in terms of Bernoulli polynomials $B_n(λ)$, and we obtain conditions under which these differences are strictly completely monotonic. In the symmetric cases $λ=0$ and $λ=1/2$, we recover results of Sonin, Nörlund and Alzer. Also we show how to derive these asymptotic expansions using the functional equation of the logarithmic derivative of the Euler gamma function, the representation of $1/x$ as a difference $F(x+1)-F(x)$, and a backward induction.
In 1982, Gessel showed that the Apéry numbers associated to the irrationality of $ζ(3)$ satisfy Lucas congruences. Our main result is to prove corresponding congruences for all sporadic Apéry-like sequences. In several cases, we are able to employ approaches due to McIntosh, Samol--van Straten and Rowland--Yassawi to establish these congruences. However, for the sequences often labeled $s_{18}$ and $(η)$ we require a finer analysis. As an application, we investigate modulo which numbers these sequences are periodic. In particular, we show that the Almkvist--Zudilin numbers are periodic modulo $8$, a special property which they share with the Apéry numbers. We also investigate primes which do not divide any term of a given Apéry-like sequence.
One of the many remarkable properties of the Apéry numbers $A (n)$, introduced in Apéry's proof of the irrationality of $ζ(3)$, is that they satisfy the two-term supercongruences \begin{equation*} A (p^r m) \equiv A (p^{r - 1} m) \pmod{p^{3 r}} \end{equation*} for primes $p \geq 5$. Similar congruences are conjectured to hold for all Apéry-like sequences. We provide a fresh perspective on the supercongruences satisfied by the Apéry numbers by showing that they extend to all Taylor coefficients $A (n_1, n_2, n_3, n_4)$ of the rational function \begin{equation*} \frac{1}{(1 - x_1 - x_2) (1 - x_3 - x_4) - x_1 x_2 x_3 x_4} . \end{equation*} The Apéry numbers are the diagonal coefficients of this function, which is simpler than previously known rational functions with this property. Our main result offers analogous results for an infinite family of sequences, indexed by partitions $λ$, which also includes the Franel and Yang--Zudilin numbers as well as the Apéry numbers corresponding to $ζ(2)$. Using the example of the Almkvist--Zudilin numbers, we further indicate evidence of multivariate supercongruences for other Apéry-like sequences.
The Fishburn numbers $ξ(n)$ are defined by the formal power series \[ \sum_{n \geq 0} ξ(n) q^n = \sum_{n \geq 0} \prod_{j = 1}^n (1 - (1 - q)^j). \] Recently, G. Andrews and J. Sellers discovered congruences of the form $ξ(p m + j) \equiv 0$ modulo $p$, valid for all $m \geq 0$. These congruences have then been complemented and generalized to the case of $r$-Fishburn numbers by F. Garvan. In this note, we answer a question of Andrews and Sellers regarding an extension of these congruences to the case of prime powers. We show that, under a certain condition, all these congruences indeed extend to hold modulo prime powers.
We provide a general theorem for evaluating trigonometric Dirichlet series of the form $\sum_{n \geq 1} \frac{f (πn τ)}{n^s}$, where $f$ is an arbitrary product of the elementary trigonometric functions, $τ$ a real quadratic irrationality and $s$ an integer of the appropriate parity. This unifies a number of evaluations considered by many authors, including Lerch, Ramanujan and Berndt. Our approach is based on relating the series to combinations of derivatives of Eichler integrals and polylogarithms.
We prove two-term supercongruences for generalizations of recently discovered sporadic sequences of Cooper. We also discuss recent progress and future directions concerning other types of supercongruences.