Proof of a conjecture of S. Chowla

Let θ(k, p) be the least s such that the congruence $\text{x}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{+ … + x}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{≡ 0(}\text{mod}\text{p)}$ has a nontrivial solution. Let θ(k) = {max θ(k, p)| p > 1 + 2k}. The purpose of this note is to prove the following conjecture of S. Chowla: $\text{θ(k) = O(k}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext><mtext>+?</mtext>}}\text{)}$.     

On solutions of “equations in symmetric groups”

Let x?S_n, the symmetric group on n symbols. Let θ? Aut(S_n) and let the automorphim order of x with respect to θ be defined by

$\text{γθ(x)=}\text{min}\text{{k:x xθ xθ}{}^2\text{? xθ}{}^{\mathrm{k?1}}\text{=1}}$

where xθ is the image of x under θ. Let α_g? Aut(S_n) denote conjugation by the element g?S_n. Let where s and k are positive integers and $\text{a}\text{b}$ denotes a divides b. Further h(s, k : n) ≡ b(1; s, k : n), where 1 denotes the identity automorphim. If g?S_n let c = f(g, s) denote the number of symbols in g which are in cycles of length not dividing the integer s, and let g_s denote the product of all cycles in g whose lengths do not divide s. Then g_s moves c symbols. The main results proved are: (1) recursion: if n ? c + 1 and t = n ? c ? 1 then $\text{b(g; s, 1:n)=∑}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>i</mtext><mtext>s</mtext>}}\text{b(g; s, 1:n?1)(}{}^{\mathrm{t}}{}_{\mathrm{i?1}}\text{(i?1)!}$ (2) reduction: b(g; s, 1 : c)h(s, 1 : i) = b(g; s, 1 : i + c); (3) distribution: let D(θ, n) ≡ {(k, b) : k?Z⁺ and b = b(θ; 1, k : n) ≠ 0}; then D(θ, m) = D(φ, m) ∨ m ? N = N(θ, φ) iff θ is conjugate to φ; (4) evaluation: the number of cycles in g_s^s of any given length is smaller than the smallest prime dividing s iff b(g_s; s, 1 : c) = 1. If g = (12 … p^m)^t and $\text{sk}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{m}}$ then $\text{b(g;s,k:p}{}^{\mathrm{m}}\text{) {}{}^0{}_{\mathrm{\pm 1}}\text{(}\text{mod}\text{p)}$.     

An asymptotic evaluation of the cycle index of a symmetric group

Let $\text{Z(S}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{;?(x))}$ denote the polynomial obtained from the cycle index of the symmetric group Z(S_n) by replacing each variable s_i by f(x¹). Let f(x) have a Taylor series with radius of convergence ? of the form f(x)=x^k + a_k+1x^k+1 + a_k+2x^k+2+? with every a₁?0. Finally, let 0<x<1 and let x??. We prove that

This limit is used to estimate the probability (for n and p both large) that a point chosen at random from a random p-point tree has degree n + 1. These limiting probabilities are independent of p and decrease geometrically in n, contrasting with the labeled limiting probabilities of $\text{1}\text{n!e}$.In order to prove the main theorem, an appealing generalization of the principle of inclusion and exclusion is presented.     

Diagonal forms over finite fields

We shall establish for all finite fields GF(pⁿ) the following result of Chowla: given a positive integer m greater than one and the finite field GF(p), p a prime, such that x^m = ?1 is solvable in GF(p), then there exists an absolute positive constant c, $\text{c ≤}\text{10}\text{ln}\text{2}$, such that for each set of s nonzero elements a_i of GF(p), $\text{a}{}_1\text{x}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{m}}\text{+ ? + a}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{m}}$ has a non-trivial zero in GF(p) if s ≥ c ln m.     

The probability that k positive integers are relatively r-prime

If r, k are positive integers, then $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples of positive integers (x₁, x₂, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r = 1. An explicit formula for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}$ is derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{1}\text{ζ(rk)}$.If S = {p₁, p₂, …, p_a} is a finite set of primes, then 〈S〉 = {p₁^a₁p₂^a₂…p_s^a_s; p_i ∈ S and a_i ≥ 0 for all i} and $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ denotes the number of k-tuples (x₁, x₃, …, x_k) with 1 ≤ x_i ≤ n and (x₁, x₂, …, x_k)_r ∈ 〈S〉. Asymptotic formulas for $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}$ are derived and it is shown that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{r}}\text{(S, n)}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{(p}{}_1\text{… p}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{ζ(rk)(p}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1) … (p}{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^{\mathrm{rk}}\text{? 1)}$.     

On the probability that k positive integers are relatively prime II

Given a set S of positive integers let $\text{Z}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(t)}$ denote the number of k-tuples 〈m₁, …, m_k〉 for which $\text{m}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{∈ S ? [1, t]}$ and (m₁, …, m_k) = 1. Also let $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(n)}$ denote the probability that k integers, chosen at random from $\text{S ? [1, n]}$, are relatively prime. It is shown that if P = {p₁, …, p_r} is a finite set of primes and S = {m : (m, p₁ … p_r) = 1}, then $\text{Z}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(t) = (td(S))}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{\nu ?P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{) + O(t}{}^{\mathrm{k?1}}\text{)}$ if k ≥ 3 and $\text{Z}{}_2{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(t) = (td(S))}{}^2\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{p?P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^2\text{) + O(t}\text{log}\text{t)}$ where d(S) denotes the natural density of S. From this result it follows immediately that $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(n) → Π}{}_{\mathrm{p?P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{) = (ζ(k))}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{p\in P}}\text{(1 ?}\text{1}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ as n → ∞. This result generalizes an earlier result of the author's where $\text{P = ?}$ and S is then the whole set of positive integers. It is also shown that if S = {p₁^x₁ … p_r^x_r : x_i = 0, 1, 2,…}, then $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{S}}\text{(n) → 0}$ as n → ∞.     

Pairs of additive equations II. Large odd degree

Let k be an odd positive integer. Davenport and Lewis have shown that the equations

$\text{a}{}_1\text{x}{}_1{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{+…+a}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{=0}$

with integer coefficients, have a nontrivial solution in integers x₁,…, x_N provided that

$\text{N?[36klog6k]}$

Here it is shown that for any ? > 0 and k > k₀(?) the equations have a nontrivial solution provided that

$\text{N?}\text{8}\text{log 2}\text{+?}\text{k log k.}$

     

Votes and a half-binomial

In two party elections with popular vote ratio $\text{p}\text{q}\text{,}\text{1}\text{2}\text{≤p=1 ?q}$, a theoretical model suggests replacing the so-called MacMahon cube law approximation $\text{(}\text{p}\text{q}\text{)}{}^3$, for the ratio $\text{P}\text{Q}$ of candidates elected, by the ratio $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(p)}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(q)}$ of the two half sums in the binomial expansion of (p+q)^2k+1 for some k. This ratio is nearly $\text{(}\text{p}\text{q}\text{)}{}^3$ when k = 6. The success probability $\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(p)=(}\text{p}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{(p}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{+q}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{)}$ for the power law $\text{(}\text{p}\text{q}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{a}}\text{?}\text{P}\text{Q}$ is shown to so closely approximate $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(p)=Σ}{}_0{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(}{}_{\mathrm{r}}{}^{\mathrm{2k+1}}\text{)p}{}^{\mathrm{2k+1?r}}\text{q}{}^{\mathrm{r}}$, if we choose $\text{a = a}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{(2k+1)!}\text{4}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{k!k!}$, that $\text{1≤}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(p)}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(p)}\text{≤1.01884086}$ for $\text{k≥1}\text{if}\text{1}\text{2}\text{≤p≤1}$. Computationally, we avoid large binomial coefficients in computing $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(p)}$ for k>22 by expressing $\text{2?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(p)?1}$ as the sum $\text{(p?q) Σ}{}_0{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(4pq)}{}^{\mathrm{s}}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{(2s+1)}$, whose terms decrease by the factors $\text{(4pq)(1?}\text{1}\text{2s}\text{)}$. Setting K = 4k+3, we compute a_k for the large k using a continued fraction $\text{πa}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^2\text{=}\text{K+1}{}^2\text{(}\text{2K+3}{}^2\text{(}\text{2K+5}{}^2\text{(2K+…)}\text{)}\text{)}$ derived from the ratio of π to the finite Wallis product approximation.     

Elementary proof of the transformation formula for Lambert series involving generalized Dedekind sums

An elementary proof is given of the author's transformation formula for the Lambert series $\text{G}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{(x) =}\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{n?1}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>\infty </mtext>}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{?p}}\text{x}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{(1?x}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{)}$ relating G_p(e^2πiτ) to G_p(e^2πiAτ), where p > 1 is an odd integer and $\text{Aτ =}\text{(aτ + b)}\text{(cτ + d)}$ is a general modular substitution. The method extends Sczech's argument for treating Dedekind's function $\text{log}\text{η(τ) =}\text{πiτ}\text{12}\text{? G}{}_1\text{(e}{}^{\mathrm{2\pi i\tau }}\text{)}$, and uses Carlitz's formula expressing generalized Dedekind sums in terms of Eulerian functions.     

Hermite series estimates of a probability density and its derivatives

The following estimate of the pth derivative of a probability density function is examined: $\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{k\; =\; 0}}{}^{\mathrm{N}}\text{a}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(x)}$, where h_k is the kth Hermite function and $\text{a}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{= (}\text{(?1)}{}^{\mathrm{p}}\text{n}\text{)}$Σ_{i = 1}ⁿh_k^(p)(X_i) is calculated from a sequence X₁,…, X_n of independent random variables having the common unknown density. If the density has r derivatives the integrated square error converges to zero in the mean and almost completely as rapidly as O(n^?α) and O(n^?α log n), respectively, where $\text{α =}\text{2(r ? p)}\text{(2r + 1)}$. Rates for the uniform convergence both in the mean square and almost complete are also given. For any finite interval they are O(n^?β) and $\text{O(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?\beta </mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{log}\text{n)}$, respectively, where $\text{β =}\text{(2(r ? p) ? 1)}\text{(2r + 1)}$.     

Asymptotic results for partitions (II) and a conjecture of Bateman and Erdös

Asymptotic results are obtained for p_A^(k)(n), the kth difference of the function p_A(n) which is the number of partitions of n into integers from A. Under certain restrictions on A it is shown that

$\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{A}}{}^{\mathrm{(k+1)}}\text{(n)}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{A}}{}^{\mathrm{(k)}}\text{(n)}\text{= O(n}{}^{\mathrm{?1/2}}\text{) (n→ ∫)}$

thereby verifying for these A a conjecture of Bateman and Erdös.     

On the length of optimal TSP circuits in sets of bounded diameter

Let V be a set of n points in R^k. Let d(V) denote the diameter of V, and l(V) denote the length of the shortest circuit which passes through all the points of V. (Such a circuit is an “optimal TSP circuit”.) l^k(n) are the extremal values of l(V) defined by l^k(n)=max{l(V)|V∈V_n^k}, where V_n^k={V|V?R^k,|V|=n, d(V)=1}. A set V∈V_n^k is “longest” if l(V)=l^k(n). In this paper, first some geometrical properties of longest sets in R² are studied which are used to obtain l²(n) for small n′s, and then asymptotic bounds on l^k(n) are derived. Let δ(V) denote the minimal distance between a pair of points in V, and let: δ^k(n)=max{δ(V)|V∈V_n^k}. It is easily observed that $\text{δ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)=O(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{)}$. Hence, $\text{c}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{=}\text{lim sup}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{δ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}$ exists. It is shown that for all $\text{n, c}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{≤δ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)}$, and hence, for all $\text{n, l}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n)≥ c}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}$. For k=2, this implies that $\text{l}{}^2\text{(n)≥(}\text{π}{}^2\text{12}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, which generalizes an observation of Fejes-Toth that $\text{lim}{}_{\mathrm{n\to \infty }}\text{l}{}^2\text{(n)n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{≥(}\text{π}{}^2\text{12}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}$. It is also shown that $\text{l}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n) ≤ [}\text{(3?√3)k}\text{(k?1)}\text{]nδ}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(n) + o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{) ≤ [}\text{(3?√3)k}\text{(k?1)}\text{]n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{+ o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>k</mtext>}}\text{)}$. The above upper bound is used to improve related results on longest sets in k-dimensional unit cubes obtained by Few (Mathematika2 (1955), 141–144) for almost all k′s. For k=2, Few's technique is used to show that $\text{l}{}^2\text{(n)≤(}\text{πn}\text{2}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{+ O(1)}$.     

A family of difference sets in non-cyclic groups

A construction is given for difference sets in certain non-cyclic groups with the parameters $\text{v = q}{}^{\mathrm{s+1}}\text{{[}\text{(q}{}^{\mathrm{s+1}}\text{? 1)}\text{(q ? 1)}\text{] + 1}}$, $\text{k = q}{}^{\mathrm{s}}\text{(q}{}^{\mathrm{s+1}}\text{? 1)}\text{(q ? 1)}$, $\text{λ = q}{}^{\mathrm{s}}\text{(q}{}^{\mathrm{s}}\text{? 1)}\text{(q ? 1)}$, n = q^2s for every prime power q and every positive integer s. If q^s is odd, the construction yields at least $\text{1}\text{2}\text{(q}{}^{\mathrm{s}}\text{+ 1)}$ inequivalent difference sets in the same group. For q = 5, s = 2 a difference set is obtained with the parameters (v, k, λ, n) = (4000, 775, 150, 625), which has minus one as a multiplier.     

Numerical approximation of product integrals

A technique for the numerical approximation of matrix-valued Riemann product integrals is developed. For a ? x < y ? b, I_m(x, y) denotes

$\text{∫}\text{χ}\text{y}\text{∫}\text{χ}\text{v}{}_2\text{?}\text{∫}\text{χ}\text{v}{}_2\text{∏}\text{i=1}\text{m}\text{F(ν}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)dν}{}_1\text{dν}{}_2\text{?dν}{}_{\mathrm{m}}$

, and A_m(x, y) denotes an approximation of I_m(x, y) of the form

$\text{(y?x)}{}^{\mathrm{m}}\text{∑}\text{k=1}\text{n}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{∏}\text{i=1}\text{m}\text{F(χ}{}_{\mathrm{ik}}\text{)}$

, where a_k and y_ik are fixed numbers for i = 1, 2,…, m and k = 1, 2,…, N and x_ik = x + (y ? x)y_ik. The following result is established. If p is a positive integer, F is a function from the real numbers to the set of w × w matrices with real elements and F⁽¹⁾ exists and is continuous on [a, b], then there exists a bounded interval function H such that, if n, r, and s are positive integers, $\text{(b ? a)}\text{n}\text{= h < 1, x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= a + hi}\text{for}\text{i = 0, 1,…, n}\text{and}\text{0 < r ? s ? n}$, then

$\text{∏}\text{χ}{}_{\mathrm{r?}}\text{χ}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{(I+F dχ)?}\text{∏}\text{i=r}\text{s}\text{I+}\text{∑}\text{j=1}\text{p}\text{I}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{(χ}{}_{\mathrm{i?1}}\text{,χ}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$

$\text{=h}{}^{\mathrm{p}}\text{H(χ}{}_{\mathrm{r?1}}\text{,χ}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{)+O(h}{}^{\mathrm{p+1}}\text{)}$

Further, if F^(j) exists and is continuous on [a, b] for j = 1, 2,…, p + 1 and A is exact for polynomials of degree less than p + 1 ? j for j = 1, 2,…, p, then the preceding result remains valid when A_j is substituted for I_j.     

Certain isometries of rectangular complex matrices

If s₁(A) ? ? ? s_m(A) are the singular values of A ? M_m,n(C), and if 1 ?k ?m ? and p ? 1, then

$\text{φ}{}_{\mathrm{p,k}}\text{(A) = (}\text{∑}\text{i=1}\text{k}\text{s}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^{\mathrm{p}}\text{(A)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>p</mtext>}}$

is a unitarily invariant norm. In this paper a complete determination of the extreme points on the corresponding unit spheres is accomplished in all cases, enabling the isometries with respect to Φ_p,_k to be determined in the case p = 1. This removes the restriction m = n in an earlier paper of the author and Marcus.     

Cup products in Grassmannians

This note calculates the height of the first Stiefel-Whitney class in the cohomology of the real Grassmannians and determines the length of the longest nontrivial cup-product in $\text{H}{}^1\text{(G}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{(R}{}^{\mathrm{n+k}}\text{);Z}{}_2\text{) (k?n)}$ with k?4.     

Concrete model theory for a class of operators with unitary part

Let m and v_t, 0 ? t ? 2π be measures on T = [0, 2π] with m smooth. Consider the direct integral $\text{H}$ = ⊕L²(v^t) dm(t) and the operator $\text{(L?)(t, λ) = e}{}^{\mathrm{?i\lambda }}\text{?(t, λ) ? 2e}{}^{\mathrm{?i\lambda }}\text{∫}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{2\pi }}\text{∫}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{?(s, x) e(s, t) dv}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{(x) dm(s)}$ on $\text{H}$, where e(s, t) = exp ∫_s^t ∫_Tdv_λ(θ) dm(λ). Let μ_t be the measure defined by $\text{∫}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{?(x) dμ}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{(x) = ∫}{}_0{}^{\mathrm{t}}\text{∫}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{?(x) dv}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{dm(s)}$ for all continuous ?, and let ?_t(z) = exp[?∫ (e^iθ + z)(e^iθ ? z)^?1dμ_t(gq)]. Call {v_t} regular iff for all $\text{t, ¦?}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{(e}{}^{\mathrm{i\theta }}\text{)¦ = ¦?}{}_{\mathrm{2\pi }}\text{(e}{}^{\mathrm{i\theta }}\text{)¦}$ for 1 a.e.     

Construction of a recurrence relation for modified moments

In this paper we are constructing a recurrence relation of the form

$\text{∑}\text{i=0}\text{r}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(k)m}{}_{\mathrm{k+i}}{}^{\mathrm{\{\lambda \}}}\text{[f] = ω(k)}$

for integrals (called modified moments)

$\text{m}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{\{\lambda \}}}\text{[f]df=}\text{∫}\text{?1}\text{1}\text{f(x)C}{}_{\mathrm{k}}{}^{\mathrm{(\lambda )}}\text{(x)dx (k = 0,1,…)}$

in which C_k^(λ) is the k-th Gegenbauer polynomial of order $\text{λ(λ > ?}\text{1}\text{2}\text{)}$, and f is a function satisfying the differential equation

$\text{∑}\text{i=0}\text{n}\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{(x)f}{}^{\mathrm{(i)}}\text{(x) = p(x) (?1?x?1)}$

of order n, where p₀, p₁, …, p_n ? 0 are polynomials, and m_k^〈λ〉[p] is known for every k. We give three methods of construction of such a recurrence relation. The first of them (called Method I) is optimum in a certain sense.