On the total number of parts functions associated with ranks of partitions modulo 5 and 7 (Q2155873): Difference between revisions

In order to combinatorially explain the famous Ramanujan congruences \[ p(5n+4)\equiv 0 \bmod 5, \quad p(7n+5)\equiv 0 \bmod 7, \quad \text{and } p(11n+6)\equiv 0 \bmod 11 \] for the number \(p(n)\) of the partitions of \(n\), \textit{F. J. Dyson} [Eureka 8, 10--15 (1944)] defined the rank of a partition as the largest part minus the number of parts. He conjectured that this statistic could be utilized to show the mod 5 and mod 7 congruences, which was later confirmed by \textit{A. O. L. Atkin} and \textit{H. P. F. Swinnerton-Dyer} [Proc. London Math. Soc. 4, 84--106 (1954; Zbl 0055.03805)]. Let \(NT(m, k, n)\) denote the total number of parts in the partitions of \(n\) with rank congruent to \(m\) modulo \(k\). For \(NT(m, k, n)\), \textit{G. E. Andrews} [Int. J. Number Theory 17, 239--249 (2021; Zbl 1465.11200)] proved surprising congruences (conjectured by George Beck), e.g., for \(n\ge 0\) and \(i\in \{1, 4\}\), \[ NT(1, 5, 5n+i) - NT(4, 5, 5n+i) + 2 NT(2, 5, 5n+i) - 2 NT(3, 5, 5n+i) \equiv 0 \bmod 5. \] In the paper under review the author establishes identities from which Andrews' congruences modulo 5 follow immediately. In particular, the generating functions for total number parts functions with ranks of partitions modulo 7 turn out to be theta-functions.