On a conjecture of Erdős (Q5900379)

This paper is concerned with the following conjecture of Erdős: If \(q\) is a positive integer and \(f(x)\) is a number--theoretic function modulo \(q\) for which \(f(n)\in\{-1,1\}\) when \(n=1,2,\ldots,q-1\) and \(f(q)=0\), then \[ S:=\sum_{n\geq 1}\frac{f(n)}{n}\neq 0 \] whenever the series is convergent. Based on an extensive computer experiment, Tengely [see \textit{R. Tijdeman}, Bolyai Soc. Math. Stud. 15, 381--405 (2006; Zbl 1103.68103)] showed that the restriction \(f(q)=0\) cannot be removed by giving an explicit function \(f\) with period 36 for which \(S=0\). The authors provide a new proof of Tengely's result based on a functional relation for the logarithmic derivative of the \(\Gamma\)-function.