Supercongruences for Apéry-like numbers (Q719342)

Let \[ B(n):=\sum_{j=0}^n\binom nj^2\binom{n+j}j \] be the Apéry numbers that appeared in \textit{R. Apéry}'s proof of irrationality of \(\zeta(2)\) [Astérisque 61, 11-- 13 (1979; Zbl 0401.10049)]. In [J. Number Theory 21, 141--155 (1985; Zbl 0571.10008)], \textit{F. Beukers} proved that the Apéry numbers satisfy the supercongruence \[ B(mp^r-1)\equiv B(m^{r-1}-1) \pmod {p^{3r}} \] for any prime \(p>3\), and any integers \(m,r\geq 1\), and certain other congruences involving the Fourier coefficients of the cusp form \(\eta(4\tau)^6\) of weight \(3\). In the paper under review, the authors consider Apéry-like numbers \[ C(n,A,B):=\sum_{j=0}^n\binom nj^A\binom{2j}j^B, \] where \(A\) and \(B\) are positive integers. They proved that for \(A\geq 3\), \[ C(mp^r,A,B)\equiv C(mp^{r-1},A,B) \pmod {p^{3r}}, \] and for \(A=2\), \[ C(mp^r,2,B)\equiv C(mp^{r-1},2,B) \pmod {p^{2r}}, \] for any prime \(p>3\) and any positive integers \(m\) and \(r\). They also prove that the numbers \(C(mp^r,A,B)\) satisfy certain congruences involving the Fourier coefficients of Eisenstein series with characters, where the moduli of the congruences depend on the weights of the Eisenstein series and the parameter \(A\).