# Volume 44 - Special Commemorative volume in honour of Srinivasa Ramanujan - 2021

### 1. Power partitions and a generalized eta transformation property

In their famous paper on partitions, Hardy and Ramanujan also raised the question of the behaviour of the number $p_s(n)$ of partitions of a positive integer~$n$ into $s$-th powers and gave some preliminary results. We give first an asymptotic formula to all orders, and then an exact formula, describing the behaviour of the corresponding generating function $P_s(q) = \prod_{n=1}^\infty \bigl(1-q^{n^s}\bigr)^{-1}$ near any root of unity, generalizing the modular transformation behaviour of the Dedekind eta-function in the case $s=1$. This is then combined with the Hardy-Ramanujan circle method to give a rather precise formula for $p_s(n)$ of the same general type of the one that they gave for~$s=1$. There are several new features, the most striking being that the contributions coming from various roots of unity behave very erratically rather than decreasing uniformly as in their situation. Thus in their famous calculation of $p(200)$ the contributions from arcs of the circle near roots of unity of order 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have 13, 5, 2, 1 and 1 digits, respectively, but in the corresponding calculation for $p_2(100000)$ these contributions have 60, 27, 4, 33, and 16 digits, respectively, of wildly varying sizes

### 2. Generating functions and congruences for 9-regular and 27-regular partitions in 3 colours

Let $b_{\ell;3}(n)$ denote the number of $\ell$-regular partitions of $n$ in 3 colours. In this paper, we find some general generating functions and new infinite families of congruences modulo arbitrary powers of $3$ when $\ell\in\{9,27\}$. For instance, for positive integers $n$ and $k$, we have\begin{align*}b_{9;3}\left(3^k\cdot n+3^k-1\right)&\equiv0~\left(\mathrm{mod}~3^{2k}\right),\\b_{27;3}\left(3^{2k+3}\cdot n+\dfrac{3^{2k+4}-13}{4}\right)&\equiv0~\left(\mathrm{mod}~3^{2k+5}\right).\end{align*}

### 3. A variant of the Hardy-Ramanujan theorem

For each natural number $n$, we define $\omega^*(n)$ to be the number of primes $p$ such that $p-1$ divides $n$. We show that in contrast to the Hardy-Ramanujan theorem which asserts that the number $\omega(n)$ of prime divisors of $n$ has a normal order $\log\log n$, the function $\omega^*(n)$ does not have a normal order. We conjecture that for some positive constant $C$, $\sum_{n\leq x} \omega^*(n)^2 \sim Cx(\log x).$ Another conjecture related to this function emerges, which seems to be of independent interest. More precisely, we conjecture that for some constant $C>0$, as $x\to \infty$, $\sum_{[p-1,q-1]\leq x} {1 \over [p-1, q-1]} \sim C \log x,$ where the summation is over primes $p,q\leq x$ such that the least common multiple $[p-1,q-1]$ is less than or equal to $x$.

### 4. Explicit Values for Ramanujan's Theta Function ϕ(q)

This paper provides a survey of particular values of Ramanujan's theta function $\varphi(q)=\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}q^{n^2}$, when $q=e^{-\pi\sqrt{n}}$, where $n$ is a positive rational number. First, descriptions of the tools used to evaluate theta functions are given. Second, classical values are briefly discussed. Third, certain values due to Ramanujan and later authors are given. Fourth, the methods that are used to determine these values are described. Lastly, an incomplete evaluation found in Ramanujan's lost notebook, but now completed and proved, is discussed with a sketch of its proof.

### 5. Truncated Series with Nonnegative Coefficients from the Jacobi Triple Product

Andrews and Merca investigated a truncated version of Euler's pentagonal number theorem and showed that the coefficients of the truncated series are nonnegative. They also considered the truncated series arising from Jacobi's triple product identity, and they conjectured that its coefficients are nonnegative. This conjecture was posed by Guo and Zeng independently and confirmed by Mao and Yee using different approaches. In this paper, we provide a new combinatorial proof of their nonnegativity result related to Euler's pentagonal number theorem. Meanwhile, we find an analogous result for a truncated series arising from Jacobi's triple product identity in a different manner.

### 6. Quantum q-series identities

As analytic statements, classical $q$-series identities are equalities between power series for $|q|<1$. This paper concerns a different kind of identity, which we call a quantum $q$-series identity. By a quantum $q$-series identity we mean an identity which does not hold as an equality between power series inside the unit disk in the classical sense, but does hold on a dense subset of the boundary -- namely, at roots of unity. Prototypical examples were given over thirty years ago by Cohen and more recently by Bryson-Ono-Pitman-Rhoades and Folsom-Ki-Vu-Yang. We show how these and numerous other quantum $q$-series identities can all be easily deduced from one simple classical $q$-series transformation. We then use other results from the theory of $q$-hypergeometric series to find many more such identities. Some of these involve Ramanujan's false theta functions and/or mock theta functions.

### 7. Partition Identities for Two-Color Partitions

Three new partition identities are found for two-color partitions. The first relates to ordinary partitions into parts not divisible by 4, the second to basis partitions, and the third to partitions with distinct parts. The surprise of the strangeness of this trio becomes clear in the proof.

### 8. A survey on t-core partitions

$t$-core partitions have played important roles in the theory of partitions and related areas. In this survey, we briefly summarize interesting and important results on $t$-cores from classical results like how to obtain a generating function to recent results like simultaneous cores. Since there have been numerous studies on $t$-cores, it is infeasible to survey all the interesting results. Thus, we mainly focus on the roles of $t$-cores in number theoretic aspects of partition theory. This includes the modularity of $t$-core partition generating functions, the existence of $t$-core partitions, asymptotic formulas and arithmetic properties of $t$-core partitions, and combinatorial and number theoretic aspects of simultaneous core partitions. We also explain some applications of $t$-core partitions, which include relations between core partitions and self-conjugate core partitions, a $t$-core crank explaining Ramanujan's partition congruences, and relations with class numbers.

### 9. Generating Functions for Certain Weighted Cranks

Recently, George Beck posed many interesting partition problems considering the number of ones in partitions. In this paper, we first consider the crank generating function weighted by the number of ones and obtain analytic formulas for this weighted crank function under conditions of the crank being less than or equal to some specific integer. We connect these cumulative and point crank functions to the generating functions of partitions with certain sizes of Durfee rectangles. We then consider a generalization of the crank for $k$-colored partitions, which was first introduced by Fu and Tang, and investigate the corresponding generating function for this crank weighted by the number of parts in the first subpartition of a $k$-colored partition. We show that the cumulative generating functions are the same as the generating functions for certain unimodal sequences.

### 10. Filter integrals for orthogonal polynomials

Motivated by an expression by Persson and Strang on an integral involving Legendre polynomials, stating that the square of $P_{2n+1}(x)/x$ integrated over $[-1,1]$ is always $2$, we present analog results for Hermite, Chebyshev, Laguerre and Gegenbauer polynomials as well as the original Legendre polynomial with even index.

### 11. Note on Artin's Conjecture on Primitive Roots

E. Artin conjectured that any integer $a > 1$ which is not a perfect square is a primitive root modulo $p$ for infinitely many primes $p.$ Let $f_a(p)$ be the multiplicative order of the non-square integer $a$ modulo the prime $p.$ M. R. Murty and S. Srinivasan \cite{Murty-Srinivasan} showed that if $\displaystyle \sum_{p < x} \frac 1 {f_a(p)} = O(x^{1/4})$ then Artin's conjecture is true for $a.$ We relate the Murty-Srinivasan condition to sums involving the cyclotomic periods from the subfields of $\mathbb Q(e^{2\pi i /p})$ corresponding to the subgroups $<a> \subseteq \mathbb F_p^*.$

### 12. Proof of the functional equation for the Riemann zeta-function

In this article, we shall prove a result which enables us to transfer from finite to infinite Euler products. As an example, we give two new proofs of the infinite product for the sine function depending on certain decompositions. We shall then prove some equivalent expressions for the functional equation, i.e. the partial fraction expansion and the integral expression involving the generating function for Bernoulli numbers. The equivalence of the infinite product for the sine functions and the partial fraction expansion for the hyperbolic cotangent function leads to a new proof of the functional equation for the Riemann zeta function.

### 13. The last chapter of the Disquisitiones of Gauss

This exposition reviews what exactly Gauss asserted and what did he prove in the last chapter of {\sl Disquisitiones Arithmeticae} about dividing the circle into a given number of equal parts. In other words, what did Gauss claim and actually prove concerning the roots of unity and the construction of a regular polygon with a given number of sides. Some history of Gauss's solution is briefly recalled, and in particular many relevant classical references are provided which we believe deserve to be better known.

### 14. A Dynamical Proof of the Prime Number Theorem

We present a new, elementary, dynamical proof of the prime number theorem.