English

Parity of the coefficients of certain eta-quotients

Combinatorics 2022-03-07 v2 Commutative Algebra Number Theory

Abstract

We investigate the parity of the coefficients of certain eta-quotients, extensively examining the case of mm-regular partitions. Our theorems concern the density of their odd values, in particular establishing lacunarity modulo 2 for specified coefficients; self-similarities modulo 2; and infinite families of congruences in arithmetic progressions. For all m28m \leq 28, we either establish new results of these types where none were known, extend previous ones, or conjecture that such results are impossible. All of our work is consistent with a new, overarching conjecture that we present for arbitrary eta-quotients, greatly extending Parkin-Shanks' classical conjecture for the partition function. We pose several other open questions throughout the paper, and conclude by suggesting a list of specific research directions for future investigations in this area.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2010.09881,
  title  = {Parity of the coefficients of certain eta-quotients},
  author = {William J. Keith and Fabrizio Zanello},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.09881},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

Minor changes. To appear in the J. of Number Theory