English

The tangent function and power residues modulo primes

Number Theory 2023-08-25 v3

Abstract

Let pp be an odd prime, and let aa be an integer not divisible by pp. When mm is a positive integer with p1(mod2m)p\equiv1\pmod{2m} and 22 is an mmth power residue modulo pp, we determine the value of the product kRm(p)tanπakp\prod_{k\in R_m(p)}\tan\pi\frac{ak}p, where Rm(p)={0<k<p: kZ is an mth power reside modulo p}.R_m(p)=\{0<k<p:\ k\in\mathbb Z\ \text{is an}\ m\text{th power reside modulo}\ p\}. In particular, if p=x2+64y2p=x^2+64y^2 with x,yZx,y\in\mathbb Z, then kR4(p)(1+tanπakp)=(1)y(2)(p1)/8.\prod_{k\in R_4(p)}\left(1+\tan\pi\frac {ak}p\right)=(-1)^{y}(-2)^{(p-1)/8}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2208.05928,
  title  = {The tangent function and power residues modulo primes},
  author = {Zhi-Wei Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.05928},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

7 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-25T01:39:05.391Z