On Ramanujan-type congruences for multiplicative functions (Q2144425)

Beginning with Ramanujan's congruences for the integer partition function modulo 5, 7, and 11, there is a long history of similar congruences for other partition-theoretic functions and for modular forms. Recently, the second author studied congruences mod 16 for one such partition function, the overpartition function, and established a direct link between such congruences and congruences for the number of divisors function. Inspired by questions of the second author about the number of divisors function, in this paper, the authors make a bold investigation into Ramanujan-type congruences for arbitrary multiplicative functions. They exactly characterize such congruences based on an explicit criterion. They further apply this to key examples, such as the sum of k-th powers of divisors function, Fourier coefficients of Hecke eigenforms, and Euler's totient function.