Parity congruence conjecture for finite Mordell--Tornheim sums

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Let r∈Nr\in\N, let pp be a prime, and let \bfs∈Nd\bfs\in\N^d satisfy p>∣\bfs∣+1p>|\bfs|+1, where ∣\bfs∣|\bfs| is the weight and Zpr(\bfs)Z_{p^r}(\bfs) is the corresponding finite Mordell--Tornheim sum. Finite Mordell--Tornheim congruence conjecture. The following congruences should hold:

  1. If d=4d=4 and ∣\bfs∣|\bfs| is odd, then
Zpr(\bfs)≡p2r−2Zp(\bfs)(modp2r−1).Z_{p^r}(\bfs)\equiv p^{2r-2}Z_p(\bfs)\pmod{p^{2r-1}}.
  1. If d=4d=4 and ∣\bfs∣|\bfs| is even, then
Zpr(\bfs)≡pr−1Zp(\bfs)(modpr).Z_{p^r}(\bfs)\equiv p^{r-1}Z_p(\bfs)\pmod{p^r}.
  1. If d=5d=5 and ∣\bfs∣|\bfs| is even, then
Zpr(\bfs)≡p2r−2Zp(\bfs)(modp2r−1).Z_{p^r}(\bfs)\equiv p^{2r-2}Z_p(\bfs)\pmod{p^{2r-1}}.

In general, if r≥2r\geq2 and d+∣\bfs∣d+|\bfs| is odd, then

Zpr(\bfs)≡0(modp2r−2);Z_{p^r}(\bfs)\equiv0\pmod{p^{2r-2}};

if r≥2r\geq2 and d+∣\bfs∣d+|\bfs| is even, then

Zpr(\bfs)≡0(modpr−1).Z_{p^r}(\bfs)\equiv0\pmod{p^{r-1}}.

The conjecture extends parity-dependent congruences for finite Mordell--Tornheim sums beyond the cases proved earlier in the paper. It is supported by extensive numerical evidence, while the stated general assertions remain open.

References

Primary source

Crystal Wang and Jianqiang Zhao, “Mordell–Tornheim Zeta Values, Their Alternating Version, and Their Finite Analogs”, arXiv:2401.03380 (2024).

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