We consider natural variants of Lehmer's unresolved conjecture that Ramanujan's tau-function never vanishes. Namely, for $n>1$ we prove that $$τ(n)\not \in \{\pm 1, \pm 3, \pm 5, \pm 7, \pm 691\}.$$ This result is an example of general theorems for newforms with trivial mod 2 residual Galois representation, which will appear in forthcoming work of the authors with Wei-Lun Tsai. Ramanujan's well-known congruences for $τ(n)$ allow for the simplified proof in these special cases. We make use of the theory of Lucas sequences, the Chabauty-Coleman method for hyperelliptic curves, and facts about certain Thue equations.
In this paper we attempt to prove Lehmer's conjecture on Ramanujan's tau function, namely tau(n) is never zero, for each n larger than zero by investigating the additive group structure attached to tau(n) with the aid of unique factorization theorem.
We describe a computationally efficient approach to resolving equations of the form $C_1x^2 + C_2 = y^n$ in coprime integers, for fixed values of $C_1$, $C_2$ subject to further conditions. We make use of a factorisation argument and the Primitive Divisor Theorem due to Bilu, Hanrot and Voutier.
In this paper we prove Lehmer's conjecture on Ramanujan's tau function, namely tau(n) not equal to zero for n >= 1 by investigating the additive group structure attached to tau(n) with the aid of the pigeonhole principle and unique factorization theorem.
We use Rankin-Cohen brackets for modular forms and quasimodular forms to give a different proof of the results obtained by D. Lanphier and D. Niebur on the van der Pol type identities for the Ramanujan's tau function. As consequences we obtain convolution sums and congruence relations involving the divisor functions.
We show that if $E/\mathbb{Q}$ is an elliptic curve with a rational $p$-torsion for $p=2$ or $3$, then there is a congruence relation between Ramanujan's tau function and $E$ modulo $p$. We make use of such congruences to compute the Iwasawa invariants of $2$-adic and $3$-adic Mazur--Tate elements attached to Ramanujan's tau function. We also investigate numerically the Iwasawa invariants of the Mazur--Tate elements attached to an elliptic curve with additive reduction at a fixed prime number.
In 1947, Lehmer conjectured that the Ramanujan $τ$-function $τ(m)$ never vanishes for all positive integers $m$, where the $τ(m)$ are the Fourier coefficients of the cusp form $Δ_{24}$ of weight 12. Lehmer verified the conjecture in 1947 for $m<214928639999$. In 1973, Serre verified up to $m<10^{15}$, and in 1999, Jordan and Kelly for $m<22689242781695999$. The theory of spherical $t$-design, and in particular those which are the shells of Euclidean lattices, is closely related to the theory of modular forms, as first shown by Venkov in 1984. In particular, Ramanujan's $τ$-function gives the c…
In 1947, Lehmer conjectured that the Ramanujan τ-function τ(m) is non-vanishing for all positive integers m, where τ(m) are the Fourier coefficients of the cusp form Δof weight 12. It is known that Lehmer's conjecture can be reformulated in terms of spherical t-design, by the result of Venkov. In this paper, we show that τ(m) = 0 is equivalent to the fact that the homogeneous space of the moonshine vertex operator algebra (V^\natural)_{m+1} is a conformal 12-design. Therefore, Lehmer's conjecture is now reformulated in terms of conformal t-designs.
Given a commutative ring $R$ with identity, let $H_R$ be the set of sequences of elements in $R$. We investigate a novel isomorphism between $(H_R, +)$ and $(\tilde H_R,*)$, where $+$ is the componentwise sum, $*$ is the convolution product (or Cauchy product) and $\tilde H_R$ the set of sequences starting with $1_R$. We also define a recursive transform over $H_R$ that, together to the isomorphism, allows to highlight new relations among some well studied integer sequences. Moreover, these connections allow to introduce a family of polynomials connected to the D'Arcais numbers and the Ramanuj…
In this paper, we find the number of representations of the quadratic form $x_1^2+ x_1x_2 + x_2^2 + \ldots + x_{2k-1}^2 + x_{2k-1}x_{2k} + x_{2k}^2,$ for $k=7,9,11,12,14$ using the theory of modular forms. By comparing our formulas with the formulas obtained by G. A. Lomadze, we obtain the Fourier coefficients of certain newforms of level $3$ and weights $7,9,11$ in terms of certain finite sums involving the solutions of similar quadratic forms of lower variables. In the case of $24$ variables, comparison of these formulas gives rise to a new formula for the Ramanujan Tau function.
Towards the end of his life Ramanujan wrote a manuscript on properties of the partition and tau functions, some parts of which remained unpublished until very recently. Nevertheless, this manuscript gave rise to a lot of subsequent work. In it Ramanujan considers congruences for $τ(n)$ modulo some special primes q. He proves for example that $τ(n)\equiv \sum_{d|n}d^{11}({\rm mod}691)$. He defines $t_n=1$ if $τ(n)$ is not divisible by q and $t_n=0$ otherwise. He then typically writes: "It can be shown by transcendental methods that $$ \sum_{k=1}^n t_k=C\int_1^n {dx\over (\log x)^δ}+O({n\over (\…
We use a q-series identity by Ramanujan to give a combinatorial interpretation of Ramanujan's tau function which involves t-cores and a new class of partitions which we call (m,k)-capsids. The same method can be applied in conjunction with other related identities yielding alternative combinatorial interpretations of the tau function.
In the spirit of Lehmer's speculation that Ramanujan's tau-function never vanishes, it is natural to ask whether any given integer $α$ is a value of $τ(n)$. For odd $α$, Murty, Murty, and Shorey proved that $τ(n)\neq α$ for sufficiently large $n$. Several recent papers have identified explicit examples of odd $α$ which are not tau-values. Here we apply these results (most notably the recent work of Bennett, Gherga, Patel, and Siksek) to offer the first examples of even integers that are not tau-values. Namely, for primes $\ell$ we find that $$ τ(n)\not \in \{ \pm 2\ell \ : \ 3\leq \ell< 100\} …
We prove a number of results regarding odd values of the Ramanujan $τ$-function. For example, we prove the existence of an effectively computable positive constant $κ$ such that if $τ(n)$ is odd and $n \ge 25$ then either \[ P(τ(n)) \; > \; κ\cdot \frac{\log\log\log{n}}{\log\log\log\log{n}} \] or there exists a prime $p \mid n$ with $τ(p)=0$. Here $P(m)$ denotes the largest prime factor of $m$. We also solve the equation $τ(n)=\pm 3^{b_1} 5^{b_2} 7^{b_3} 11^{b_4}$ and the equations $τ(n)=\pm q^b$ where $3\le q < 100$ is prime and the exponents are arbitrary nonnegative integers. We make use of…
We propose an improved algorithm for computing mod $\ell$ Galois representations associated to a cusp form $f$ of level one. The proposed method allows us to explicitly compute the case with $\ell=29$ and $f$ of weight $k=16$, and the cases with $\ell=31$ and $f$ of weight $k=12,20, 22$. All the results are rigorously proved to be correct. As an example, we will compute the values modulo $31$ of Ramanujan's tau function at some huge primes up to a sign. Also we will give an improved higher bound on Lehmer's conjecture for Ramanujan's tau function.
In 1947, Lehmer conjectured that the Ramanujan's tau function $τ(m)$ never vanishes for all positive integers $m$, where $τ(m)$ is the $m$-th Fourier coefficient of the cusp form $Δ_{24}$ of weight 12. The theory of spherical $t$-design is closely related to Lehmer's conjecture because it is shown, by Venkov, de la Harpe, and Pache, that $τ(m)=0$ is equivalent to the fact that the shell of norm $2m$ of the $E_{8}$-lattice is a spherical 8-design. So, Lehmer's conjecture is reformulated in terms of spherical $t$-design. Lehmer's conjecture is difficult to prove, and still remains open. However,…
Let $f(z)=\sum_{n=1}^\infty a(n)q^n\in S^{\text{new}}_ k (Γ_0(N))$ be a newform with squarefree level $N$ that does not have complex multiplication. For a prime $p$, define $θ_p\in[0,π]$ to be the angle for which $a(p)=2p^{( k -1)/2}\cos θ_p $. Let $I\subset[0,π]$ be a closed subinterval, and let $dμ_{ST}=\frac{2}π\sin^2θdθ$ be the Sato-Tate measure of $I$. Assuming that the symmetric power $L$-functions of $f$ satisfy certain analytic properties (all of which follow from Langlands functoriality and the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis), we prove that if $x$ is sufficiently large, then \[ \left|…
We prove formulas for special values of the Ramanujan tau zeta function. Our formulas show that $L(Δ, k)$ is a period in the sense of Kontsevich and Zagier when $k\ge12$. As an illustration, we reduce $L(Δ, k)$ to explicit integrals of hypergeometric and algebraic functions when $k\in\{12,13,14,15\}$.
A natural variant of Lehmer's conjecture that the Ramanujan $τ$-function never vanishes asks whether, for any given integer $α$, there exist any $n \in \mathbb{Z}^+$ such that $τ(n) = α$. A series of recent papers excludes many integers as possible values of the $τ$-function using the theory of primitive divisors of Lucas numbers, computations of integer points on curves, and congruences for $τ(n)$. We synthesize these results and methods to prove that if $0 < |α| < 100$ and $α\notin T := \{2^k, -24,-48, -70,-90, 92, -96\}$, then $τ(n) \neq α$ for all $n > 1$. Moreover, if $α\in T$ and $τ(n) =…
In this paper, we give a generate function for the $σ_1$ function. Then we find some connections between the $σ_1$ function and the Ramanujan's tau function. We hope this connection will give some insights into the unsolved problems in classical number theory.
Let $τ(n)$ be Ramanujan's tau function, defined by the discriminant modular form \[ Δ(z) = q\prod_{j=1}^{\infty}(1-q^{j})^{24}\ =\ \sum_{n=1}^{\infty}τ(n) q^n \,,q=e^{2πi z} \] (this is the unique holomorphic normalized cuspidal newform of weight 12 and level 1). Lehmer's conjecture asserts that $τ(n)\neq 0$ for all $n\geq 1$; since $τ(n)$ is multiplicative, it suffices to study primes $p$ for which $τ(p)$ might possibly be zero. Assuming standard conjectures for the twisted symmetric power $L$-functions associated to $τ$ (including GRH), we prove that if $x\geq 10^{50}$, then \[ \#\{x < p\leq…
We consider very general "random integers" and (attempt to) prove that many multiplicative and additive functions of such integers have limiting distributions. These integers include, for instance, the curvatures of Apollonian circle packings, trace of Frobenius elements for elliptic curves, the Ramanujan tau-function, Mersenne numbers, and many others.
A number of mathematical methods have been shown to model the zeroes of $L$-functions with remarkable success, including the Ratios Conjecture and Random Matrix Theory. In order to understand the structure of convolutions of families of $L$-functions, we investigate how well these methods model the zeros of such functions. Our primary focus is the convolution of the $L$-function associated to Ramanujan's tau function with the family of quadratic Dirichlet $L$-functions, for which J.B. Conrey and N.C. Snaith computed the Ratios Conjecture's prediction. Our main result is performing the number t…
