Representations of integers as sums of squares (Q701109)

Let \(r(s;n)\) denote the number of representations of the nonnegative integer \(n\) as the sum of \(s\) squares. For \(s=2,4,6,8,\) elegant representations of \(r(s;n)\) were found by Jacobi. For certain odd \(s\) and certain even \(s>8\), known formulas are more complicated. However, a major breakthrough was made by \textit{S. C. Milne} [Ramanujan J. 6, No. 1, 7--149 (2002; Zbl 1125.11315)] proving formulas for \(r(4s^ {2};n)\) and \(r(4s(s+1);n)\) for every positive integer \(s\) and also formulas for \(t(4s^ 2;n)\) and \(t(4s(s+1);n)\), where \(t(s;n)\) denotes the number of representations of \(n\) as a sum of \(s\) triangular numbers. \textit{D. Zagier} [Math. Res. Lett. 7, No. 5--6, 597--604 (2000; Zbl 1125.11319)] using modular forms obtained formulas simpler than those of Milne for \(t(s;n)\). In this paper the author obtains elegant formulas for \(r(4s^ 2;n)\) and \(r(4s(s+1);n)\) in terms of divisor functions using Zagier's work on the Kac-Wakimoto conjecture.