English

Forbidden integer ratios of consecutive power sums

Number Theory 2017-01-10 v1

Abstract

Let Sk(m):=1k+2k++(m1)kS_k(m):=1^k+2^k+\cdots+(m-1)^k denote a power sum. In 2011 Bernd Kellner formulated the conjecture that for m4m\ge 4 the ratio Sk(m+1)/Sk(m)S_k(m+1)/S_k(m) of two consecutive power sums is never an integer. We will develop some techniques that allow one to exclude many integers ρ\rho as a ratio and combine them to exclude the integers 3ρ15013\le \rho\le 1501 and, assuming a conjecture on irregular primes to be true, a set of density 11 of ratios ρ\rho. To exclude a ratio ρ\rho one has to show that the Erd\H{o}s-Moser type equation (ρ1)Sk(m)=mk(\rho-1)S_k(m)=m^k has no non-trivial solutions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1510.06064,
  title  = {Forbidden integer ratios of consecutive power sums},
  author = {Ioulia N. Baoulina and Pieter Moree},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1510.06064},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

28 pages, 3 tables; accepted for publication in the book "From Arithmetic to Zeta-Functions - Number Theory in Memory of Wolfgang Schwarz"

R2 v1 2026-06-22T11:25:06.965Z