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Evaluation of a determinant involving Legendre symbols

Number Theory 2025-07-25 v1

Abstract

Let p>3p>3 be a prime, and let (p)(\frac{\cdot}p) be the Legendre symbol. Let Ap(x)A_p(x) denote the matrix [x+aij]1i,j(p1)/2[x+a_{ij}]_{1\leqslant i,j\leqslant (p-1)/2}, where aij={(jp)if i=1,$i+jp)if i>1. a_{ij}=\begin{cases} (\frac{j}{p}) &\text{if} \ i=1, \$\frac{i+j}{p}) &\text{if} \ i>1. \end{cases} In 2018 Z.-W. Sun conjectured that detAp(0)=2(p3)/2\det A_p(0)=-2^{(p-3)/2} if p3(mod4)p\equiv 3 \pmod{4}, which was later confirmed by G. Zaimi. In this paper we evaluate detAp(x)\det A_p(x) completely.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.18589,
  title  = {Evaluation of a determinant involving Legendre symbols},
  author = {Chen-Kai Ren and Zhi-Wei Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.18589},
  year   = {2025}
}

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14 pages