arXiv subjects

Scott Ahlgren

Publications and source records attributed to Scott Ahlgren.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Theta Cycles of Modular Forms Modulo $p^2$

The theta cycle of a modular form modulo a prime $p\geq 5$ is well understood. By contrast, the theta cycle modulo a power of $p$ is still mysterious and experimentally erratic. Here we completely determine the theta cycle of a weight $k < p$ modular form modulo $p^2$ on the initial segment of length $p$ and we prove exact values or nontrivial bounds for the weight filtrations on $p-2$ further segments of length $p - k + 1$. In particular, asymptotically as $p \to \infty$ we establish 50% of the theta cycle exactly, and we provide nontrivial bounds for 100% of it. We determine the first two low points exactly and $\left\lfloor \frac{p - k + 1}{2} \right\rfloor$ further low points at regular positions. Moreover, we detect low points at exceptional positions which solve a quadratic equation modulo $p$, and which disturb the otherwise regular structure in the segments that we exhibit.

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arXiv2025

Arithmetic properties of generalized Frobenius partitions

Ramanujan proved three famous congruences for the partition function modulo 5, 7, and 11. The first author and Boylan proved that these congruences are the only ones of this type. In 1984 Andrews introduced the $m$-colored Frobenius partition functions $c\phi_m$; these are natural higher-level analogues of the partition function which have attracted a great deal of attention in the ensuing decades. For each $m\in \{5, 7, 11\}$ there are two analogues of Ramanujan's congruences for $c\phi_m$, and for these $m$ we prove there are no congruences like Ramanujan's other than these six. Our methods involve a blend of theory and computation with modular forms.

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arXiv2025

Eisenstein series modulo prime powers

If $p\geq 5$ is prime and $k\geq 4$ is an even integer with $(p-1)\nmid k$ we consider the Eisenstein series $G_k$ on $\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ modulo powers of $p$. It is classically known that for such $k$ we have $G_k\equiv G_{k'}\pmod p$ if $k\equiv k'\pmod{p-1}$. Here we obtain a generalization modulo prime powers $p^m$ by giving an expression for $G_k\pmod{p^m}$ in terms of modular forms of weight at most $mp$. As an application we extend a recent result of the first author with Hanson, Raum and Richter by showing that, modulo powers of $E_{p-1}$, every such Eisenstein series is congruent modulo $p^m$ to a modular form of weight at most $mp$. We prove a similar result for the normalized Eisenstein series $E_k$ in the case that $(p-1)\mid k$ and $m<p$.

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arXiv2025

Scarcity of partition congruences on semiprime progressions

In recent work with Raum the authors considered congruences for the ordinary partition function $p(n)$ of the form $p(\ell Q^r n+\beta)\equiv 0\pmod\ell$ where $\ell, Q\geq 5$ are prime and $r\in \{1,2\}$, and proved a number of results which show that such congruences are scarce in a precise sense. Here we improve one of our results when $r=1$; in particular we prove (outside of trivial cases) that the set of primes $Q$ such that there exists $\beta\in \mathbb{Z}$ with $p(\ell Q n+\beta)\equiv 0\pmod \ell$ for all $n$ has density zero. The proof involves a modification of part of our previous argument and an application of a recent theorem of Dicks regarding modular forms of half-integral weight and level one modulo $\ell$.

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arXiv2025

Congruences like Atkin's for generalized Frobenius partitions

In the 1960s Atkin discovered congruences modulo primes $\ell\leq 31$ for the partition function $p(n)$ in arithmetic progressions modulo $\ell Q^3$, where $Q\neq \ell$ is prime. Recent work of the first author with Allen and Tang shows that such congruences exist for all primes $\ell\geq 5$. Here we consider (for primes $m\geq 5$) the $m$-colored generalized Frobenius partition functions $c\phi_m(n)$; these are natural level $m$ analogues of $p(n)$. For each such $m$ we prove that there are similar congruences for $c\phi_m(n)\pmod \ell$ for all primes $\ell$ outside of an explicit finite set depending on $m$. To prove the result we first construct, using both theoretical and computational methods, cusp forms of half-integral weight on $\Gamma_0(m)$ which capture the relevant values of $c\phi_m(n)$ modulo~$\ell$. We then apply previous work of the authors on the Shimura lift for modular forms with the eta multiplier together with tools from the theory of modular Galois representations.

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arXiv2025

Eisenstein series modulo $p^2$

We study congruences for Eisenstein series on $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ modulo $p^2$, where $p \geq 5$ is prime. It is classically known that all Eisenstein series of weight at least $4$ are determined modulo $p^2$ by those of weight at most $p^2-p+2$. We prove that up to powers of $E_{p-1}$, each such Eisenstein series is in fact determined modulo $p^2$ by a modular form of weight at most $2p-4$. We also determine $E_2$ modulo $p^2$ in terms of a modular form of weight $p+1$.

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arXiv2023

The Shimura lift and congruences for modular forms with the eta multiplier

The Shimura correspondence is a fundamental tool in the study of half-integral weight modular forms. In this paper, we prove a Shimura-type correspondence for spaces of half-integral weight cusp forms which transform with a power of the Dedekind eta multiplier twisted by a Dirichlet character. We prove that the lift of a cusp form of weight $\lambda+1/2$ and level $N$ has weight $2\lambda$ and level $6N$, and is new at the primes $2$ and $3$ with specified Atkin-Lehner eigenvalues. This precise information leads to arithmetic applications. For a wide family of spaces of half-integral weight modular forms we prove the existence of infinitely many primes $\ell$ which give rise to quadratic congruences modulo arbitrary powers of $\ell$.

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arXiv2021

Congruences like Atkin's for the partition function

Let $p(n)$ be the ordinary partition function. In the 1960s Atkin found a number of examples of congruences of the form $p( Q^3 \ell n+\beta)\equiv0\pmod\ell$ where $\ell$ and $Q$ are prime and $5\leq \ell\leq 31$; these lie in two natural families distinguished by the square class of $1-24\beta\pmod\ell$. In recent decades much work has been done to understand congruences of the form $p(Q^m\ell n+\beta)\equiv 0\pmod\ell$. It is now known that there are many such congruences when $m\geq 4$, that such congruences are scarce (if they exist at all) when $m=1, 2$, and that for $m=0$ such congruences exist only when $\ell=5, 7, 11$. For congruences like Atkin's (when $m=3$), more examples have been found for $5\leq \ell\leq 31$ but little else seems to be known. Here we use the theory of modular Galois representations to prove that for every prime $\ell\geq 5$, there are infinitely many congruences like Atkin's in the first natural family which he discovered and that for at least $17/24$ of the primes $\ell$ there are infinitely many congruences in the second family.

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arXiv2020

Scarcity of congruences for the partition function

The arithmetic properties of the ordinary partition function $p(n)$ have been the topic of intensive study for the past century. Ramanujan proved that there are linear congruences of the form $p(\ell n+\beta)\equiv 0\pmod\ell$ for the primes $\ell=5, 7, 11$, and it is known that there are no others of this form. On the other hand, for every prime $\ell\geq 5$ there are infinitely many examples of congruences of the form $p(\ell Q^m n+\beta)\equiv 0\pmod\ell$ where $Q\geq 5$ is prime and $m\geq 3$. This leaves open the question of the existence of such congruences when $m=1$ or $m=2$ (no examples in these cases are known). We prove in a precise sense that such congruences, if they exist, are exceedingly scarce. Our methods involve a careful study of modular forms of half integral weight on the full modular group which are related to the partition function. Among many other tools, we use work of Radu which describes expansions of such modular forms along square classes at cusps of the modular curve $X(\ell Q)$, Galois representations and the arithmetic large sieve.

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arXiv2018

Dissections of strange $q$-series

In a study of congruences for the Fishburn numbers, Andrews and Sellers observed empirically that certain polynomials appearing in the dissections of the partial sums of the Kontsevich-Zagier series are divisible by a certain $q$-factorial. This was proved by the first two authors. In this paper we extend this strong divisibility property to two generic families of $q$-hypergeometric series which, like the Kontsevich-Zagier series, agree asymptotically with partial theta functions.

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arXiv2018

Maass forms and the mock theta function $f(q)$

Let $f(q)=1+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \alpha(n)q^n$ be the well-known third order mock theta of Ramanujan. In 1964, George Andrews proved an asymptotic formula of the form $$\alpha(n)= \sum_{c\leq\sqrt{n}} \psi(n)+O_\epsilon\left(n^\epsilon\right),$$ where $\psi(n)$ is an expression involving generalized Kloosterman sums and the $I$-Bessel function. Andrews conjectured that the series converges to $\alpha(n)$ when extended to infinity, and that it does not converge absolutely. Bringmann and Ono proved the first of these conjectures. Here we obtain a power savings bound for the error in Andrews' formula, and we also prove the second of these conjectures. Our methods depend on the spectral theory of Maass forms of half-integral weight, and in particular on an average estimate which we derive for the Fourier coefficients of such forms which gives a power savings in the spectral parameter. As a further application of this result, we derive a formula which expresses $\alpha(n)$ with small error as a sum of exponential terms over imaginary quadratic points (this is similar in spirit to a recent result of Masri). We also obtain a bound for the size of the error term incurred by truncating Rademacher's analytic formula for the ordinary partition function which improves a result of the first author and Andersen when $24n-23$ is squarefree.

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arXiv2017

A polyharmonic Maass form of depth 3/2 for SL_2(Z)

Duke, Imamoglu, and Toth constructed a polyharmonic Maass form of level 4 whose Fourier coefficients encode real quadratic class numbers. A more general construction of such forms was subsequently given by Bruinier, Funke, and Imamoglu. Here we give a direct construction of such a form for the full modular group and study the properties of its coefficients. We give interpretations of the coefficients of the holomorphic parts of each of these polyharmonic Maass forms as inner products of certain weakly holomorphic modular forms and harmonic Maass forms. The coefficients of square index are particularly intractable; in order to address these, we develop various extensions of the usual normalized Peterson inner product using a strategy of Bringmann, Ehlen and Diamantis.

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arXiv2017

Congruences for a mock modular form on $\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ and the smallest parts function

Using a family of mock modular forms constructed by Zagier, we study the coefficients of a mock modular form of weight $3/2$ on $\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ modulo primes $\ell\geq 5$. These coefficients are related to the smallest parts function of Andrews. As an application, we reprove a theorem of Garvan regarding the properties of this function modulo $\ell$. As another application, we show that congruences modulo $\ell$ for the smallest parts function are rare in a precise sense.

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arXiv2016

A note on cusp forms as $p$-adic limits

Several authors have recently proved results which express cusp forms as $p$-adic limits of weakly holomorphic modular forms under repeated application of Atkin's $U$-operator. The proofs involve techniques from the theory of weak harmonic Maass forms, and in particular a result of Guerzhoy, Kent, and Ono on the $p$-adic coupling of mock modular forms and their shadows. Here we obtain strengthened versions of these results using techniques from the theory of holomorphic modular forms.

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arXiv2015

Kloosterman sums and Maass cusp forms of half integral weight for the modular group

We estimate the sums \[ \sum_{c\leq x} \frac{S(m,n,c,\chi)}{c}, \] where the $S(m,n,c,\chi)$ are Kloosterman sums of half-integral weight on the modular group. Our estimates are uniform in $m$, $n$, and $x$ in analogy with Sarnak and Tsimerman's improvement of Kuznetsov's bound for the ordinary Kloosterman sums. Among other things this requires us to develop mean value estimates for coefficients of Maass cusp forms of weight $1/2$ and uniform estimates for $K$-Bessel integral transforms. As an application, we obtain an improved estimate for the classical problem of estimating the size of the error term in Rademacher's formula for the partition function $p(n)$.

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arXiv2015

Algebraic and transcendental formulas for the smallest parts function

Building on work of Hardy and Ramanujan, Rademacher proved a well-known formula for the values of the ordinary partition function $p(n)$. More recently, Bruinier and Ono obtained an algebraic formula for these values. Here we study the smallest parts function introduced by Andrews; $\operatorname{spt}(n)$ counts the number of smallest parts in the partitions of $n$. The generating function for $\operatorname{spt}(n)$ forms a component of a natural mock modular form of weight $3/2$ whose shadow is the Dedekind eta function. Using automorphic methods (in particular the theta lift of Bruinier and Funke), we obtain an exact formula and an algebraic formula for its values. In contrast with the case of $p(n)$, the convergence of our expression is non-trivial, and requires power savings estimates for weighted sums of Kloosterman sums for a multiplier in weight $1/2$. These are proved with spectral methods (following an argument of Goldfeld and Sarnak).

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arXiv2014

Dissections of a "strange" function

The "strange" function of Kontsevich and Zagier is defined by \[F(q):=\sum_{n=0}^\infty(1-q)(1-q^2)\dots(1-q^n).\] This series is defined only when $q$ is a root of unity, and provides an example of what Zagier has called a "quantum modular form." In their recent work on congruences for the Fishburn numbers $ξ(n)$ (whose generating function is $F(1-q)$), Andrews and Sellers recorded a speculation about the polynomials which appear in the dissections of the partial sums of $F(q)$. We prove that a more general form of their speculation is true. The congruences of Andrews-Sellers were generalized by Garvan in the case of prime modulus, and by Straub in the case of prime power modulus. As a corollary of our theorem, we reprove the known congruences for $ξ(n)$ modulo prime powers.

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arXiv2014

Euler-like recurrences for smallest parts functions

We obtain recurrences for smallest parts functions which resemble Euler's recurrence for the ordinary partition function. The proofs involve the holomorphic projection of non-holomorphic modular forms of weight 2.

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