On the \(\mathbb Q\)-linear independence of the sums \(\sum^{\infty}_{n=1} \sigma_k (n)/n!\) (Q627633)

Denote by \(\sigma_k(n)\) the sum of the \(k\)-th powers of the divisors of \(n\), and put \(\alpha_k=\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{\sigma_k(n)}{n!}\). Erdős conjectured that \(\alpha_k\) is irrational for every \(k\). \textit{J. B. Friedlander, F. Luca} and \textit{M. Stoiciu} [Integers 7, No. 1, Paper A31 (2007; Zbl 1123.11022)] as well as the reviewer [Ramanujan J. 12, No. 3, 455--460 (2006; Zbl 1112.11036)] have shown that this conjecture would follow from Schnizel's conjecture H. In the present work the authors assume conjecture H and together with a rather technical hypothesis to show that \(1, \alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_k\) are \(\mathbb{Q}\)-linearly independent. While the additional hypothesis appears to be difficult to prove in general, it can be checked explicitly for any given \(k\). The authors do so for \(k=50\) and prove in this way that Schinzels hypothesis H implies the \(\mathbb{Q}\)-linear independence of \(1, \alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_{50}\). The proofs are similar to the proofs for the irrationality of the individual \(\alpha_i\) given in the works mentioned above.