New congruences for overpartitions modulo \(3\) and \(9\) (Q2136026)

A partition of a nonnegative integer \(n\) is a weakly decreasing sequence of positive integers whose sum is \(n\). \textit{S. Corteel} and \textit{J. Lovejoy} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 356, No. 4, 1623--1635 (2004; Zbl 1040.11072)] introduced the function \(\overline{p}(n)\), which denotes the number of partitions of \(n\) in which the first occurrence (equivalently, the final occurrence) of a number may be overlined. Since then, the arithmetic properties of \(\overline{p}(n)\) have been investigated extensively by many scholars. In this paper, the author establish an infinite family of congruences modulo \(3\) enjoyed by \(\overline{p}(n)\), that is, \begin{align*} \overline{p}\big(9^\alpha16^\beta\cdot3(8\ell n+8i+1)\big)\equiv0\pmod{3},\tag{1} \end{align*} where \(\alpha\geq0\), \(\beta\geq0\), \(n\geq0\), \(\ell\) is an arbitrary odd prime, \(i\) is a positive integer such that \(0\leq i<\ell\) and \(\left(\frac{8i+1}{\ell}\right)=-1\), and where \(\left(\frac{\cdot}{\ell}\right)\) denotes the Legendre symbol. As an immediate consequence of (1), \begin{align*} \overline{p}(168n+s) &\equiv0\pmod{3},\qquad s\in\{51,99,123\},\\ \overline{p}(321n+t) &\equiv0\pmod{3},\qquad t\in\{99,123,171,219,267,291\}. \end{align*} Moreover, the author also obtains the following infinite family of congruences for \(\overline{p}(n)\) modulo \(9\): \begin{align*} \overline{p}(3\ell^2n)\equiv0\pmod{9},\tag{2} \end{align*} where \(\ell\) is a prime with \(\ell\equiv7\pmod{9}\) and \(n\) is nonnegative integer such that \(\left(\frac{n}{\ell}\right)=-1\). The main ingredient of proofs in (1) and (2) are \(q\)-series manipulations and the theory of Hecke eigenform.