arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Zhi-Wei Sun.
Let $H_n^{(2)}$ denote the second-order harmonic number $\sum_{0 3$, where $E_0,E_1,E_2,\ldots$ are Euler numbers. Motivated by the Amdeberhan-Zeilberger identity $\sum_{k=1}^\infty(21k-8)/(k^3\binom{2k}k^3)=π^2/6$, we also establish the congruence $$\sum_{k=1}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{21k-8}{k^3\binom{2k}k^3}\equiv(-1)^{(p+1)/2}4E_{p-3}\pmod p$$ for each prime $p>3$.
Let $p$ be an odd prime and let $d\in\{2,3,7\}$. When $(\frac{-d}p)=1$ we can write $p=x^2+dy^2$ with $x,y\in\mathbb Z$; in this paper we aim at determining $x$ or $y$ modulo $p^2$. For example, when $p=x^2+3y^2$, we show that if $p\equiv x\equiv 1\pmod 4$ then $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}(3[3\mid k]-1)(2k+1)\frac{\binom{2k}k^2}{(-16)^k}\equiv\left(\frac2p\right)2x\pmod{p^2}$$ where $[3\mid k]$ takes $1$ or $0$ according as $3\mid k$ or not, and that if $-p\equiv y\equiv 1\pmod4$ then $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}\left(\frac k3\right)\frac{k\binom{2k}k^2}{(-16)^k} \equiv(-1)^{(p+1)/4}y\equiv\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}(1-3[3\mid k])\frac{k\binom{2k}k^2}{(-16)^k}\pmod{p^2}.$$ We also determine $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{k\binom{2k}k^3}{m^k}\sum_{k\le j<2k}\frac1j\quad \mbox{mod}\ p$$ for $m=1,-8,16,-64,256,-512,4096$.
For $m=3,4,\ldots$, the polygonal numbers of order $m$ are given by $p_m(n)=(m-2)\binom n2+n\ (n=0,1,2,\ldots)$. For positive integers $a,b,c$ and $i,j,k\ge3$ with $\max\{i,j,k\}\ge5$, we call the triple $(ap_i,bp_j,cp_k)$ universal if for any $n=0,1,2,\ldots$ there are nonnegative integers $x,y,z$ such that $n=ap_i(x)+bp_j(y)+cp_k(z)$. We show that there are only 95 candidates for universal triples (two of which are $(p_4,p_5,p_6)$ and $(p_3,p_4,p_{27})$), and conjecture that they are indeed universal triples. For many triples $(ap_i,bp_j,cp_k)$ (including $(p_3,4p_4,p_5),(p_4,p_5,p_6)$ and $(p_4,p_4,p_5)$), we prove that any nonnegative integer can be written in the form $ap_i(x)+bp_j(y)+cp_k(z)$ with $x,y,z\in\mathbb Z$. We also show some related new results on ternary quadratic forms, one of which states that any nonnegative integer $n\equiv 1\pmod{6}$ can be written in the form $x^2+3y^2+24z^2$ with $x,y,z\in\mathbb Z$. In addition, we pose several related conjectures one of which states that for any $m=3,4,\ldots$ each natural number can be expressed as $p_{m+1}(x_1)+p_{m+2}(x_2)+p_{m+3}(x_3)+r$ with $x_1,x_2,x_3\in\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$ and $r\in\{0,\ldots,m-3\}$.
Let $m>2$ and $q>0$ be integers with $m$ even or $q$ odd. We show the supercongruence $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(-1)^{km}\binom{p/m-q}{k}^m\equiv0\pmod{p^3}.$$ for any prime $p>mq$. This confirms a conjecture of Sun.
Binomial coefficients and central trinomial coefficients play important roles in combinatorics. Let $p>3$ be a prime. We show that $$T_{p-1}\equiv\left(\frac p3\right)3^{p-1}\ \pmod{p^2},$$ where the central trinomial coefficient $T_n$ is the constant term in the expansion of $(1+x+x^{-1})^n$. We also prove three congruences modulo $p^3$ conjectured by Sun, one of which is $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\binom{p-1}k\binom{2k}k((-1)^k-(-3)^{-k})\equiv \left(\frac p3\right)(3^{p-1}-1)\ \pmod{p^3}.$$ In addition, we get some new combinatorial identities.
In this paper we establish some new supercongruences motivated by the well-known fact $\lim_{n\to\infty}(1+1/n)^n=e$. Let $p>3$ be a prime. We prove that $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\binom{-1/(p+1)}k^{p+1}\equiv 0\ \pmod{p^5}\ \ \ \mbox{and}\ \ \ \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\binom{1/(p-1)}k^{p-1}\equiv \frac{2}{3}p^4B_{p-3}\ \pmod{p^5},$$ where $B_0,B_1,B_2,\ldots$ are Bernoulli numbers. We also show that for any $a\in\mathbb Z$ with $p\nmid a$ we have $$\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}\frac1k\left(1+\frac ak\right)^k\equiv -1\pmod{p}\ \ \ \mbox{and}\ \ \ \sum_{k=1}^{p-1}\frac1{k^2}\left(1+\frac ak\right)^k\equiv 1+\frac 1{2a}\pmod{p}.$$
The author gives the full list of his conjectures on series for powers of $π$ and other important constants scattered in some of his public papers or his private diaries. The list contains 234 reasonable conjectural series. On the list there are 178 reasonable series for $π^{-1}$, four series for $π^2$, two series for $π^{-2}$, four series for $π^4$, two series for $π^5$, three series for $π^6$, seven series for $ζ(3)$, one series for $πζ(3)$, two series for $π^2ζ(3)$, one series for $ζ(3)^2$, three series involving both $ζ(3)^2$ and $π^6$, one series for $ζ(5)$, three series involving both $ζ(5)$ and $ζ(2)ζ(3)$, two series involving both $πζ(5)$ and $π^3ζ(3)$, three series involving $ζ(7)$, three series for $K=L(2,(\frac{\cdot}{3}))$, one series for the Catalan constant $G$, two series for $πG$, one series involving both $π^3G$ and $π^2ζ(3)$, two series for $πK$, two series involving $L=L(4,(\frac{\cdot}3))$, three series involving $β(4)=L(4,(\frac{-4}{\cdot}))$, and four series for $π^2\log a$ with $a=2,3,(\sqrt5+1)/2$. The code of a conjectural series is underlined if and only if a complete proof of the identity is available.
We confirm Sun's conjecture that $(\root{n+1}\of{F_{n+1}}/\root{n}\of{F_n})_{n\ge 4}$ is strictly decreasing to the limit 1, where $(F_n)_{n\ge0}$ is the Fibonacci sequence. We also prove that the sequence $(\root{n+1}\of{D_{n+1}}/\root{n}\of{D_n})_{n\ge3}$ is strictly decreasing with limit $1$, where $D_n$ is the $n$-th derangement number. For $m$-th order harmonic numbers $H_n^{(m)}=\sum_{k=1}^n 1/k^m\ (n=1,2,3,\ldots)$, we show that $(\root{n+1}\of{H^{(m)}_{n+1}}/\root{n}\of{H^{(m)}_n})_{n\ge3}$ is strictly increasing.
A generalized central trinomial coefficient $T_n(b,c)$ is the coefficient of $x^n$ in the expansion of $(x^2+bx+c)^n$ with $b,c\in\mathbb Z$. In this paper we investigate congruences and series for sums of terms related to central binomial coefficients and generalized central trinomial coefficients. The paper contains many conjectures on congruences related to representations of primes by certain binary quadratic forms, and 62 proposed new series for $1/π$ motivated by congruences and related dualities.
In this paper we prove three conjectures on congruences involving central binomial coefficients or Lucas sequences. Let $p$ be an odd prime and let $a$ be a positive integer. We show that if $p\equiv 1\pmod{4}$ or $a>1$ then $$ \sum_{k=0}^{\lfloor\frac34p^a\rfloor}\binom{-1/2}k\equiv\left(\frac{2}{p^a}\right)\pmod{p^2}, $$ where $(-)$ denotes the Jacobi symbol. This confirms a conjecture of the second author. We also confirm a conjecture of R. Tauraso by showing that $$\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}\frac{L_k}{k^2}\equiv0\pmod{p}\quad {\rm provided}\ \ p>5,$$ where the Lucas numbers $L_0,L_1,L_2,\ldots$ are defined by $L_0=2,\ L_1=1$ and $L_{n+1}=L_n+L_{n-1}\ (n=1,2,3,\ldots)$. Our third theorem states that if $p\not=5$ then we can determine $F_{p^a-(\frac{p^a}5)}$ mod $p^3$ in the following way: $$\sum_{k=0}^{p^a-1}(-1)^k\binom{2k}k\equiv\left(\frac{p^a}5\right)\left(1-2F_{p^a-(\frac{p^a}5)}\right)\ \pmod{p^3},$$ which appeared as a conjecture in a paper of Sun and Tauraso in 2010.
For integers $b$ and $c$ the generalized central trinomial coefficient $T_n(b,c)$ denotes the coefficient of $x^n$ in the expansion of $(x^2+bx+c)^n$. Those $T_n=T_n(1,1)\ (n=0,1,2,\ldots)$ are the usual central trinomial coefficients, and $T_n(3,2)$ coincides with the Delannoy number $D_n=\sum_{k=0}^n\binom nk\binom{n+k}k$ in combinatorics. We investigate congruences involving generalized central trinomial coefficients systematically. Here are some typical results: For each $n=1,2,3,\ldots$ we have $$\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(2k+1)T_k(b,c)^2(b^2-4c)^{n-1-k}\equiv0\pmod{n^2}$$ and in particular $n^2\mid\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(2k+1)D_k^2$; if $p$ is an odd prime then $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}T_k^2\equiv\left(\frac{-1}p\right)\ \pmod{p}\ \ \ {\rm and}\ \ \ \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}D_k^2\equiv\left(\frac 2p\right)\ \pmod{p},$$ where $(-)$ denotes the Legendre symbol. We also raise several conjectures some of which involve parameters in the representations of primes by certain binary quadratic forms.
In this paper we mainly employ the Zeilberger algorithm to study congruences for sums of terms involving products of three binomial coefficients. Let $p>3$ be a prime. We prove that $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k^2\binom{2k}{k+d}}{64^k}\equiv 0\pmod{p^2}$$ for all $d\in\{0,\ldots,p-1\}$ with $d\equiv (p+1)/2\pmod2$. If $p\equiv 1\pmod4$ and $p=x^2+y^2$ with $x\equiv 1\pmod4$ and $y\equiv 0\pmod2$, then we show $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k^2\binom{2k}{k+1}}{(-8)^k}\equiv 2p-2x^2\pmod{p^2}\ \ \mbox{and}\ \ \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k\binom{2k}{k+1}^2}{(-8)^k}\equiv-2p\pmod{p^2}$$ by means of determining $x$ mod $p^2$ via $$(-1)^{(p-1)/4}\,x\equiv\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{k+1}{8^k}\binom{2k}k^2\equiv\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{2k+1}{(-16)^k}\binom{2k}k^2\pmod{p^2}.$$ We also solve the remaining open cases of Rodriguez-Villegas' conjectural congruences on $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k^2\binom{3k}k}{108^k},\ \ \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k^2\binom{4k}{2k}}{256^k}, \ \ \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}{k}\binom{3k}k\binom{6k}{3k}}{12^{3k}}$$ modulo $p^2$.
The Apéry polynomials are given by $$A_n(x)=\sum_{k=0}^n\binom nk^2\binom{n+k}k^2x^k\ \ (n=0,1,2,\ldots).$$ (Those $A_n=A_n(1)$ are Apéry numbers.) Let $p$ be an odd prime. We show that $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(-1)^kA_k(x)\equiv\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k^3}{16^k}x^k\pmod{p^2},$$ and that $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}A_k(x)\equiv\left(\frac xp\right)\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{4k}{k,k,k,k}}{(256x)^k}\pmod{p}$$ for any $p$-adic integer $x\not\equiv 0\pmod p$. This enables us to determine explicitly $\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(\pm1)^kA_k$ mod $p$, and $\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(-1)^kA_k$ mod $p^2$ in the case $p\equiv 2\pmod3$. Another consequence states that $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(-1)^kA_k(-2)\equiv\begin{cases}4x^2-2p\pmod{p^2}&\mbox{if}\ p=x^2+4y^2\ (x,y\in\mathbb Z),\\0\pmod{p^2}&\mbox{if}\ p\equiv3\pmod4.\end{cases}$$ We also prove that for any prime $p>3$ we have $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(2k+1)A_k\equiv p+\frac 76p^4B_{p-3}\pmod{p^5}$$ where $B_0,B_1,B_2,\ldots$ are Bernoulli numbers.
Let $a$ and $m>0$ be integers. We show that for any integer $b$ relatively prime to $m$, the set $\{a^n+bn:\ n=1,\ldots,m^2\}$ contains a complete system of residues modulo $m$. We also pose several conjectures for further research; for example, we conjecture that any integer $n>1$ can be written as $k+m$ with $2^k+m$ prime, where $k$ and $m$ are positive integers.
Let $A$ be a finite set of integers. We show that if $k$ is a prime power or a product of two distinct primes then $$|A+k\cdot A|\geq(k+1)|A|-\lceil k(k+2)/4\rceil$$ provided $|A|\geq (k-1)^{2}k!$, where $A+k\cdot A=\{a+kb:\ a,b\in A\}$. We also establish the inequality $|A+4\cdot A|\geq 5|A|-6 $ for $|A|\geq 5$.
Given a squarefree positive integer $d$, we want to find integers (or rational numbers with denominators not divisible by large primes) $a_0,a_1,a_2,\ldots$ such that for sufficiently large primes $p$ we have $\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}a_k\equiv x^2-2p$ (mod $p^2$) if $4p=x^2+dy^2$ (and $4\nmid x$ if $d=1$), and $\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}a_k\equiv 0$ (mod $p^2$) if $(\frac{-d}p)=-1$. In this paper we give a survey of conjectures and results on this topic and point out the connection between this problem and series for $1/π$.
Let $p$ be an odd prime. In 2008 E. Mortenson proved van Hamme's following conjecture: $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}(4k+1)\binom{-1/2}k^3\equiv (-1)^{(p-1)/2}p\pmod{p^3}.$$ In this paper we show further that \begin{align*}\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(4k+1)\binom{-1/2}k^3\equiv &\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}(4k+1)\binom{-1/2}k^3 \\\equiv & (-1)^{(p-1)/2}p+p^3E_{p-3} \pmod{p^4},\end{align*}where $E_0,E_1,E_2,\ldots$ are Euler numbers. We also prove that if $p>3$ then $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{20k+3}{(-2^{10})^k}\binom{4k}{k,k,k,k}\equiv(-1)^{(p-1)/2}p(2^{p-1}+2-(2^{p-1}-1)^2)\pmod{p^4}.$$
Let $p>5$ be a prime. Motivated by the known formulae $\sum_{k=1}^\infty(-1)^k/(k^3\binom{2k}{k})=-2ζ(3)/5$ and $\sum_{k=0}^\infty \binom{2k}{k}^2/((2k+1)16^k)=4G/π$$ (where $G=\sum_{k=0}^\infty(-1)^k/(2k+1)^2$ is the Catalan constant), we show that $$\sum_{k=1}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{(-1)^k}{k^3\binom{2k}{k}}\equiv-2B_{p-3}\pmod{p},$$ $$\sum_{k=(p+1)/2}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}{k}^2}{(2k+1)16^k}\equiv-\frac 7{4}p^2B_{p-3}\pmod{p^3}$$, and $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-3)/2}\frac{\binom{2k}{k}^2}{(2k+1)16^k} \equiv-2q_p(2)-pq_p(2)^2+\frac{5}{12}p^2B_{p-3}\pmod{p^3},$$ where $B_0,B_1,\ldots$ are Bernoulli numbers and $q_p(2)$ is the Fermat quotient $(2^{p-1}-1)/p$.