Related papers: A note on the Borwein conjecture
For $n\in\mathbb{N}=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$ and $b,c\in\mathbb{Z}$, the $n$th generalized central trinomial coefficient $T_n(b,c)$ is the coefficient of $x^n$ in the expansion of $(x^2+bx+c)^n$. In particular, $T_n=T_n(1,1)$ is the central…
The Motzkin numbers $M_n=\sum_{k=0}^n\binom n{2k}\binom{2k}k/(k+1)$ $(n=0,1,2,\ldots)$ and the central trinomial coefficients $T_n$ ($n=0,1,2,\ldots)$ given by the constant term of $(1+x+x^{-1})^n$, have many combinatorial interpretations.…
In 1997 we proved that if $n$ is of the form $$ 4k, \quad 8k-1\quad {\rm or} \quad 2^{2m+1}(2k-1)+3, $$ where $k,m\in \mathbb N,$ then there are no positive rational numbers $x,y,z$ satisfying $$ xyz = 1, \quad x+y+z = n. $$ Recently, N. X.…
Let $\overline{B}_{s,t}(n)$ denote the number of overpartitions of $n$ where no part is divisible by $s$ or $t$, with $s$ and $t$ being coprime. By establishing the exact generating functions of a family of arithmetic progressions in…
F. Bergeron recently asked the intriguing question whether $\binom{b+c}{b}_q -\binom{a+d}{d}_q$ has nonnegative coefficients as a polynomial in $q$, whenever $a,b,c,d$ are positive integers, $a$ is the smallest, and $ad=bc$. We conjecture…
We disprove the sum-product conjecture for real numbers by constructing arbitrarily large $A\subset \mathbb{R}$ (whose elements are algebraic integers in a number field of degree $\asymp \log\lvert A\rvert$) such that \[\max(\lvert…
Let $A$ be a sequence of positive integers and $P(A)$ be the set of all integers which are the finite sum of distinct terms of $A$. For given positive integers $u\in\{4,7,8\}\cup\{u:u\ge11\}$ and $v\ge 3u+5$ we know that $u+v+1$ is the…
Let $p>3$ be a prime and let $a$ be a positive integer. We show that if $p\equiv1\pmod 4$ or $a>1$ then $$\sum_{k=0}^{\lfloor\frac34p^a\rfloor}\frac{\binom{2k}k^2}{16^k}\equiv\l(\frac{-1}{p^a}\r)\pmod{p^3}$$ with $(-)$ the Jacobi symbol,…
For all nonnegative integers n, the Franel numbers are defined as $$ f_n=\sum_{k=0}^n {n\choose k}^3.$$ We confirm two conjectures of Z.-W. Sun on congruences for Franel numbers: \sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(3k+2)(-1)^k f_k &\equiv 0 \pmod{2n^2},…
We say that $(a_1,...,a_k)$ is pairwise non-coprime if $\gcd(a_i,a_j) \ne 1$ for all $1 \le i <j \le k$. Let $a_1,a_2,a_3$ be positive integers less than $H$. We obtain an asymptotic formula for the number of $(a_1,a_2,a_3)$ that are…
The purpose of this paper is to study products of Fourier coefficients of an elliptic cusp form, $a(n)a(n + r)$ $(n \geq 1)$ for a fixed positive integer $r$, concerning both non-vanishing and non-negativity.
In this paper, we conjecture an extension to Bressoud's 1996 generalization of Borwein's famous 1990 conjecture. We then state a few infinite hierarchies of non-negative $q$-series identities which are interesting examples of our proposed…
The Collatz conjecture asserts that repeatedly iterating $f(x) = (3x + 1)/2^{a(x)}$, where $a(x)$ is the highest exponent for which $2^{a(x)}$ exactly divides $3x+1$, always lead to $1$ for any odd positive integer $x$. Here, we present an…
The $3k-4$ Theorem asserts that, if $A,\,B\subseteq \mathbb Z$ are finite, nonempty subsets with $|A|\geq |B|$ and $|A+B|=|A|+|B|+r< |A|+2|B|-3$, then there are arithmetic progressions $P_A$ and $P_B$ of common difference with $X\subseteq…
It is established that there exists an absolute constant $c>0$ such that for any finite set $A$ of positive real numbers $$|AA+A| \gg |A|^{\frac{3}{2}+c}.$$ On the other hand, we give an explicit construction of a finite set $A \subset…
In this work the generalized Collatz problem $qn+1$ ($q$ odd) is studied. As a natural generalization of the original $3n+1$ problem, it consists of a discrete dynamical system of an arithmetical kind. Using standard methods of number…
In its usual form, Freiman's 3k-4 theorem states that if A and B are subsets of the integers of size k with small sumset (of size close to 2k) then they are very close to arithmetic progressions. Our aim in this paper is to strengthen this…
Ruzsa's conjecture asserts that any sequence $(a_n)_{n \geq 0}$ of integers that preserves congruences, $\textit{i.e.}$, satisfies $ a_{n+k} \equiv a_n \mod k $, and has the growth condition $\limsup_{n \to +\infty} |a_n|^{1/n} < e$, must…
Consider the recursive relation generating a new positive integer $n_{\ell +1}$ from the positive integer $n_{\ell }$ according to the following simple rules: if the integer $n_{\ell }$ is odd, $n_{\ell +1}=3n_{\ell }+1$; if the integer…
Let $p\equiv3\pmod{4}$ be a prime and $r$ a positive integer. We show that $$ \prod_{k=1}^{(p^{2r}-1)/2}\frac{4k-1}{4k+1}\equiv1\pmod{p^2}. $$ This confirms a recent conjecture of Guo.