English

Dissections of a "strange" function

Number Theory 2014-08-07 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

The "strange" function of Kontsevich and Zagier is defined by F(q):=n=0(1q)(1q2)(1qn).F(q):=\sum_{n=0}^\infty(1-q)(1-q^2)\dots(1-q^n). This series is defined only when qq 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)\xi(n) (whose generating function is F(1q)F(1-q)), Andrews and Sellers recorded a speculation about the polynomials which appear in the dissections of the partial sums of F(q)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)\xi(n) modulo prime powers.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1408.1334,
  title  = {Dissections of a "strange" function},
  author = {Scott Ahlgren and Byungchan Kim},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1408.1334},
  year   = {2014}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T05:21:55.040Z