Arithmetic of the Ramanujan-Göllnitz-Gordon continued fraction (Q1011670)

The Ramanujan-Göllnitz-Gordon continued fraction \(v(\tau)\) is defined by \[ v(\tau) := \frac{q^{\frac{1}{2}}}{1+q+\frac{q^2}{1+q^3+\frac{q^4}{1+q^5+\frac{q^6}{1+q^7 + \cdots}}}} \] and satisfies \[ v(\tau) = q^{\frac{1}{2}}\prod_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{(1-q^{8n-7})(1-q^{8n-1})}{(1-q^{8n-5})(1-q^{8n-3})}. \] As usual we have \(q := e^{2 \pi i \tau}\). The majority of this paper is devoted to the study of modular equations for \(v(\tau)\), i.e., polynomial equations \(\Phi_n(X,Y) = 0\) satisfied by \(X = v(\tau)\) and \(Y = v(n \tau)\). Such equations had been exhibited for \(n=2,3\), and \(4\) by \textit{H. H. Chang} and \textit{S.-S. Huang} [Ramanujan J. 1, No. 1, 75--90 (1997; Zbl 0905.11008)] and for \(5,7\), and \(11\) by \textit{K. R. Vasuki} and \textit{B. R. Srivatsa Kumar} [J. Comput. Appl. Math. 187, No. 1, 87--95 (2006; Zbl 1081.11004)]. Here the authors provide an algorithm for computing \(\Phi_p(X,Y)\) for all odd primes \(p\). They also prove the ``Kronecker congruence'' \[ \Phi_p(X,Y) \equiv \begin{cases} (X^p-Y)(X-Y^p) \pmod{p}& \text{if \(p \equiv \pm 1 \pmod 8\)}, \\ (X^p-Y)(1+XY^p) \pmod{p}& \text{if \(p \equiv \pm 3 \pmod 8\)}. \end{cases} \] In the last bit of the paper, the authors give a proof that if \(K\) is an imaginary quadratic field then \(v(\tau)\) is a unit for all \(\tau \in K-\mathbb{Q}\) and they show that under certain conditions \(K(v(\tau))\) is the ray class field modulo \(8\) over \(K\).