Journal of Integer Sequences, Vol. 27 (2024), Article 24.1.6

Glaisher's Divisors and Infinite Products


Hartosh Singh Bal
The Caravan
Jhandewalan Extension
New Delhi 110001
India

Gaurav Bhatnagar
Department of Mathematics
Ashoka University
Sonipat
Haryana 131029
India

Abstract:

Ramanujan gave a recurrence relation for the partition function in terms of the sum of the divisors function σ(n). In 1885, Glaisher considered seven divisor sums closely related to the sum of the divisors function. We develop a calculus to associate a partition generating function with each of these divisor sums. This yields analogues of Ramanujan's recurrence relation for several partition-theoretic functions as well as rk(n) and tk(n), functions counting the number of ways of writing a number as a sum of squares (respectively, triangular numbers). As by-products of this association, we obtain several convolutions, recurrences and congruences for divisor functions. We give alternate proofs of two classical theorems, one due to Legendre and the other—Ramanujan's congruence p(5n + 4) ≡ 0 (mod 5).


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(Concerned with sequences A000009 A000203 A000385 A000593 A001158 A002129 A002131 A007331 A008438 A008439 A015128 A035363 A138503 A146076 A226253 A350485.)


Received August 11 2023; revised versions received August 20 2023; December 14 2023; January 13 2024. Published in Journal of Integer Sequences, January 14 2024.


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