Hikami's radial-limit conjecture for false theta functions

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For n≥0n\geq 0, let (x;q)n=(1−x)(1−xq)⋯(1−xqn−1)(x;q)_n=(1-x)(1-xq)\cdots(1-xq^{n-1}) be the qq-Pochhammer symbol, and let [nk]q\begin{bmatrix}n\\k\end{bmatrix}_q denote the qq-binomial coefficient. For m≥2m\geq 2 and 0≤a≤m−20\leq a\leq m-2, define

Φ~m(a)(q)=mq(m−a−1)24m∑n1,…,nm−1≥0(−1)nm−1q(nm−1+12)+n12+⋯+nm−22+na+1+⋯+nm−2∏i=1m−2[ni+1+δi,a i]q.\widetilde{\Phi}_m^{(a)}(q)=mq^{\frac{(m-a-1)^2}{4m}}\sum_{n_1,\dots,n_{m-1}\geq 0}(-1)^{n_{m-1}}q^{\binom{n_{m-1}+1}{2}+n_1^2+\cdots+n_{m-2}^2+n_{a+1}+\cdots+n_{m-2}}\prod_{i=1}^{m-2}\begin{bmatrix}n_{i+1}+\delta_{i,a}\ _i\end{bmatrix}_q.

It has the false-theta expansion

Φ~m(a)(q)=m∑n≥0χ2m(a)(n)qn2/4m,\widetilde{\Phi}_m^{(a)}(q)=m\sum_{n\geq0}\chi_{2m}^{(a)}(n)q^{n^2/4m},

where χ2m(a)(n)=1\chi_{2m}^{(a)}(n)=1 if n≡m−a−1(mod2m)n\equiv m-a-1\pmod{2m}, −1-1 if n≡m+a+1(mod2m)n\equiv m+a+1\pmod{2m}, and 00 otherwise. Define

Ym,N(a)(q)=∑n1,…,nm−1=0N−1(−1)nm−1q(nm−1+12)+n12+⋯+nm−22+na+1+⋯+nm−2∏i=1m−2[ni+1+δi,a i]q.Y_{m,N}^{(a)}(q)=\sum_{n_1,\dots,n_{m-1}=0}^{N-1}(-1)^{n_{m-1}}q^{\binom{n_{m-1}+1}{2}+n_1^2+\cdots+n_{m-2}^2+n_{a+1}+\cdots+n_{m-2}}\prod_{i=1}^{m-2}\begin{bmatrix}n_{i+1}+\delta_{i,a}\ _i\end{bmatrix}_q.

Let ζN=e2πi/N\zeta_N=e^{2\pi i/N}. Hikami's conjecture. For any m≥2m\geq2 and 0≤a≤m−20\leq a\leq m-2, the radial limit satisfies

lim⁡q→ζNΦ~m(a)(q)=ζN(m−a−1)24mYm,N(a)(ζN).\lim_{q\to\zeta_N}\widetilde{\Phi}_m^{(a)}(q)=\zeta_N^{\frac{(m-a-1)^2}{4m}}Y_{m,N}^{(a)}(\zeta_N).

False theta functions have well-defined radial limits at roots of unity, and these limits give quantum modular forms. The paper proves this conjecture, so its status is solved.

References

Primary source

Jeremy Lovejoy and Rishabh Sarma, “Bailey pairs, radial limits of q-hypergeometric false theta functions, and a conjecture of Hikami”, arXiv:2402.11529 (2025).

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