Some infinite families of congruences for \(t\)-core partition functions (Q6111809)

An integer partition of the positive integer \(n\) can be represented by a Ferrers diagram. Let \((\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\ldots,\lambda_k)\) be a partition of \(n\) and let \(\lambda_j'\) be the number of nodes of the diagram in column \(j\). The hook number \(H(i,j)\) is defined as \(H(i,j)=\lambda_i+\lambda'_j-i-j+1\). A \(t\)-core partition of \(n\) is a partition of \(n\) in which none of the hook numbers is divisible by \(t\). \textit{F. Garvan} et al. [Invent. Math. 101, No. 1, 1--17 (1990; Zbl 0721.11039)] gave a generating function for \(a_t(n)\), the number of \(t\)-core partitions of \(n\). Several arithmetic properties of \(a_t(n)\) have been studied when \(t\) is a power of 2 or a prime. The present article proves several congruence conditions for \(a_5(n),a_7(n)\) for certain special values of \(n\), such as \[a_5(3\cdot 5^{2\alpha+1}n+11\cdot 5^{2\alpha}-1)\equiv 0 \pmod{3}.\] Some of the congruences are also verified using the theory of modular forms.