English

Universal sums of generalized pentagonal numbers

Number Theory 2020-02-07 v2

Abstract

For an integer xx, an integer of the form P5(x)=3x2x2P_5(x)=\frac{3x^2-x}2 is called a generalized pentagonal number. For positive integers α1,,αk\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_k, a sum Φα1,,αk(x1,x2,,xk)=α1P5(x1)+α2P5(x2)++αkP5(xk)\Phi_{\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_k}(x_1,x_2,\dots,x_k)=\alpha_1P_5(x_1)+\alpha_2P_5(x_2)+\cdots+\alpha_kP_5(x_k) of generalized pentagonal numbers is called universal if Φα1,,αk(x1,x2,,xk)=N\Phi_{\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_k}(x_1,x_2,\dots,x_k)=N has an integer solution (x1,x2,,xk)Zk(x_1,x_2,\dots,x_k) \in \mathbb Z^k for any non-negative integer NN. In this article, we prove that there are exactly 234234 proper universal sums of generalized pentagonal numbers. Furthermore, the "pentagonal theorem of 109109" is proved, which states that an arbitrary sum Φα1,,αk(x1,x2,,xk)\Phi_{\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_k}(x_1,x_2,\dots,x_k) is universal if and only if it represents the integers 1,3,8,9,11,18,19,25,27,43,981, 3, 8, 9, 11, 18, 19, 25, 27, 43, 98, and 109109.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1805.03434,
  title  = {Universal sums of generalized pentagonal numbers},
  author = {Jangwon Ju},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.03434},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

14 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-23T01:49:25.942Z