English

The partition function modulo 4

Number Theory 2022-12-15 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

It is widely believed that the parity of the partition function p(n)p(n) is ``random.'' Contrary to this expectation, in this note we prove the existence of infinitely many congruence relations modulo 4 among its values. For each square-free integer 1<D23(mod24),1<D\equiv 23\pmod{24}, we construct a weight 2 meromorphic modular form that is congruent modulo 4 to a certain twisted generating function for the numbers p(Dm2+124)(mod4)p\big(\frac{Dm^2+1}{24}\big)\pmod 4. We prove the existence of infinitely many linear dependence congruences modulo 4 among suitable sets of holomorphic normalizations of these series. These results rely on the theory of class numbers and Hilbert class polynomials, and {\it generalized twisted Borcherds products} developed by Bruinier and the author.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2212.06935,
  title  = {The partition function modulo 4},
  author = {Ken Ono},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.06935},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

Intended for the ICCGNFRT-22 conference proceedings

R2 v1 2026-06-28T07:33:19.804Z