English

Sums of polynomial-type exceptional units modulo $n$

Number Theory 2021-08-03 v3

Abstract

Let f(x)Z[x]f(x)\in\mathbb{Z}[x] be a nonconstant polynomial. Let n,kn, k and cc be integers such that n1n\ge 1 and k2k\ge 2. An integer aa is called an ff-exunit in the ring Zn\mathbb{Z}_n of residue classes modulo nn if gcd(f(a),n)=1\gcd(f(a),n)=1. In this paper, we use the principle of cross-classification to derive an explicit formula for the number Nk,f,c(n){\mathcal N}_{k,f,c}(n) of solutions (x1,...,xk)(x_1,...,x_k) of the congruence x1+...+xkc(modn)x_1+...+x_k\equiv c\pmod n with all xix_i being ff-exunits in the ring Zn\mathbb{Z}_n. This extends a recent result of Anand {\it et al.} [On a question of ff-exunits in Z/nZ\mathbb{Z}/{n\mathbb{Z}}, {\it Arch. Math. (Basel)} {\bf 116} (2021), 403-409]. We derive a more explicit formula for Nk,f,c(n){\mathcal N}_{k,f,c}(n) when f(x)f(x) is linear or quadratic.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2104.01453,
  title  = {Sums of polynomial-type exceptional units modulo $n$},
  author = {Junyong Zhao and Shaofang Hong and Chaoxi Zhu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2104.01453},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

8 pages. Final version

R2 v1 2026-06-24T00:49:45.061Z