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A Proof of Bala's Congruence Conjecture for A028342

Combinatorics 2026-07-17 v1

Abstract

Let a(n)a(n) be the sequence A028342 in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS), defined by the exponential generating function n0a(n)xn/n!=i1(1xi)1/i\sum_{n\ge0} a(n)x^n/n! = \prod_{i\ge1}(1-x^i)^{-1/i}. Equivalently, a(n)a(n) counts permutations of an nn-element labeled set in which every cycle is assigned one divisor of its length, where a cycle of length mm has d(m)d(m) choices, d(m)d(m) being the number of positive divisors of mm. We prove a family of congruences for aa, conjectured by Peter Bala. They state that ka(n+k)+a(n)k \mid a(n+k)+a(n) for odd kk, that ka(n+k)a(n)k \mid a(n+k)-a(n) for k0,2,6(mod8)k\equiv 0,2,6 \pmod 8, and that k2(a(n+k)a(n))k \mid 2(a(n+k)-a(n)) for k4(mod8)k\equiv 4\pmod 8. The proof first establishes a product congruence a(n+k)a(n)a(k)(modk)a(n+k)\equiv a(n)a(k)\pmod k, and then computes a(pr)modpra(p^r)\bmod p^r for each prime power by counting the colored permutations fixed by a subgroup of order pp.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.18313,
  title  = {A Proof of Bala's Congruence Conjecture for A028342},
  author = {Ahaan Kallat},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.18313},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

12 pages. Includes a Lean 4/Mathlib formalization