Cyclotomic polynomial coefficients \(a(n,k)\) with \(n\) and \(k\) in prescribed residue classes (Q555285)

From MaRDI portal
scientific article
Language Label Description Also known as
English
Cyclotomic polynomial coefficients \(a(n,k)\) with \(n\) and \(k\) in prescribed residue classes
scientific article

    Statements

    Cyclotomic polynomial coefficients \(a(n,k)\) with \(n\) and \(k\) in prescribed residue classes (English)
    0 references
    0 references
    22 July 2011
    0 references
    Let \(n\geq 1\) be an integer. Let \(\Phi_n(x)=\sum_{k=0}^{\varphi(n)} a(n,k) x^k\) denote the \(n\)th cyclotomic polynomial. Set \(a(n,k)=0\) for \(k>\varphi(n)\). The coefficients \(a(n,k)\) have a strong tendency to be small, e.g., for \(n<105\) one has \(a(n,k)\in \{-1,0,1\}\). Nevertheless it can be shown that \textit{every} integer can occur as a cyclotomic coefficient. In this paper the author determines the set \(\{a(n,k)\}\) as \(n\) runs through the positive integers congruent to \(a\pmod d\) and \(k\) runs through the non-negative integers congruent to \(b\pmod f\), with \(0\leq a<d\) and \(0\leq b<f\). Denote this set by \(S(a,d;b,f)\). Define the squarefree integer \(t(n)\) to be the product of the distinct primes dividing \(n\), and set \(s(n)=n/t(n)\). The author's main result is that if \(\gcd(s(\text{gcd}(a,d)),f)\) divides \(b\), then \(S(a,d;b,f)=\mathbb Z\) and \(S(a,d;b,f)=\{0\}\) otherwise. The proof uses the quantitative form of Dirichlet's prime number theorem for arithmetic progressions. \textit{C. G. Ji, W.-P. Li} and the reviewer [Discrete Math. 309, N. 6, 1720--1723 (2009; Zbl 1221.11067)] proved that \(S(0,d;b,1)=\mathbb Z\), a special case of the author's result. Consider the power series expansion of \(\Phi_n(x)^{-1}\) at \(x=0\): \(\Phi_n(x)^{-1}=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}c(n,k)x^k\). It is easy to see that the \(c(n,k)\) are integers. The author also shows that her main result remains true if one replaces \(a(n,k)\) by \(c(n,k)\). For a detailed study of the coefficients \(c(n,k)\) see the reviewer [J. Number Theory 129, No. 3, 667--680 (2009; Zbl 1220.11037)].
    0 references
    0 references
    cyclotomic polynomial
    0 references
    Dirichlet's theorem
    0 references
    residue classes
    0 references

    Identifiers