\(\ell\)-adic properties of partition functions (Q2636900)

The results and proofs in this paper are analogous to those in [\textit{A. Folsom} et al., Adv. Math. 229, No. 3, 1586--1609 (2012; Zbl 1247.11131)] and [\textit{M. Boylan} and \textit{J. J. Webb}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 365, No. 4, 2169--2206 (2013; Zbl 1280.11061)], but with the number of partitions of \(n\) replaced by the number of \(r\)-colored partitions of \(n\) or the number of smallest parts in the partitions of \(n\). We illustrate the latter case. Let \(p(n)\) denote the number of partitions of \(n\) and let \(\text{spt}(n)\) denote the number of smallest parts in the partitions of \(n\). Define \(a(n)\) and \(P_{\ell}(\text{spt},b;z)\) by \[ a(n) := 12\text{spt}(n) + (24n-1)p(n) \] and \[ P_{\ell}(\text{spt},b;z) := \sum_{n \geq -\ell}\left(a\left(\frac{\ell^b n +1}{24}\right) - \ell \left(\frac{12}{\ell}\right)a\left(\frac{\ell^{b-2} n +1}{24}\right)\right)q^{\frac{n}{24}}. \] Here \(\ell \geq 5\) and \(q := e^{2\pi i z}\). Next recall the Dedekind \(\eta\)-function, \[ \eta(z) := q^{\frac{1}{24}}\prod_{n \geq 1}(1-q^n). \] For odd \(b \geq 1\) and any \(m\geq 1\) define the \(\mathbb{Z}/\ell^m\mathbb{Z}\)-modules \(\Lambda_{\ell}^{odd}(\text{spt},b,m)\) by \[ \Lambda_{\ell}^{odd}(\text{spt},b,m) := \text{Span}_{\mathbb{Z}/\ell^m\mathbb{Z}} \{\eta(\ell z) P_{\ell}(\text{spt},\beta;z) \pmod{\ell^m} : \beta \geq b, \beta \equiv b \pmod{2}\} \] It is shown that there is an integer \(b^{'}_{\ell}(\text{spt},m)\) such that the nested sequence of \(\mathbb{Z}/\ell^m\mathbb{Z}\)-modules \[ \Lambda_{\ell}^{odd}(\text{spt},1,m) \supseteq \Lambda_{\ell}^{odd}(\text{spt},3,m) \supseteq \cdots \] is constant for all \(b\) with \(2b+1 \geq b^{'}_{\ell}(\text{spt},m)\). Bounds are determined for the rank of this stabilized module as well as for \(b^{'}_{\ell}(\text{spt},m)\). There is a similar result for similarly defined modules \(\Lambda_{\ell}^{even}(\text{spt},b,m)\). Some numerical examples are given. We cite Example 2: For every even \(b_1, b_2 \geq 2\) one has \[ \text{spt}\left( \frac{11^{b_1}n+1}{24} \right) \equiv \text{spt} \left( \frac{11^{b_2}n+1}{24} \right) \pmod{11}. \]