Multiple harmonic sums and multiple harmonic star sums are (nearly) never integers

zbMATH Open1412.11063arXiv1606.05722MaRDI QIDQ5384142FDOQ5384142

Authors: Roberto Tauraso, Kh. Hessami Pilehrood, T. Hessami Pilehrood 

Publication date: 21 June 2019

Abstract: It is well known that the harmonic sum $H_n(1)=su{m}_{k=1}^{n}frac1k$ is never an integer for $n>1$. In 1946, ErdH{o}s and Niven proved that the nested multiple harmonic sum $H_n(1^r)=su{m}_{1le{k}_1<dots<k_{r}len}frac1k_{1}cdots{k}_r$ can take integer values only for a finite number of positive integers $n$. In 2012, Chen and Tang refined this result by showing that $H_n(1^r)$ is an integer only for $(n,r)=(1,1)$ and $(n,r)=(3,2)$. In this paper, we consider the integrality problem for arbitrary multiple harmonic and multiple harmonic star sums and show that none of these sums is an integer with some natural exceptions like those mentioned above.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.05722

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zbMATH Keywords

multiple harmonic sums

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Rational numbers as sums of fractions (11D68)

Cites Work

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• Expressing harmonic sums as fractions
• Global series for height 1 multiple zeta functions
• Multiple zeta functions and polylogarithms over global function fields
• Multiple reciprocal sums and multiple reciprocal star sums of polynomials are almost never integers
• On the integrality of the first and second elementary symmetric functions of \(1,1/2^{s_2},\dots,1/n^{s_n}\)
• On the \(2\)-adic valuation of differences of harmonic numbers
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