Conjectured Wigner 6j-symbol summation identities

From papers

For fixed NN, let

Wij={ijN12N12N12},Wji={iN12N12jN12N12},\mathcal{W}^{ij\ell}=\left\{\begin{matrix} i & j & \ell \\ \frac{N-1}{2} & \frac{N-1}{2} & \frac{N-1}{2}\end{matrix}\right\},\qquad \mathcal{W}_j^i=\left\{\begin{matrix} i & \frac{N-1}{2} & \frac{N-1}{2} \\ j & \frac{N-1}{2} & \frac{N-1}{2}\end{matrix}\right\},

let λi=i(i+1)\lambda_i=i(i+1), and let Hj=1+1/2++1/jH_j=1+1/2+\cdots+1/j be the jthj^{\text{th}} harmonic number. The conjectured Wigner 6j6j identities. For all 1j,N11\leq j,\ell\leq N-1, the four displayed summation identities in the source hold, with the first subject to jj\neq\ell:

i=1N12i+1λi(Wij)2=1Nj(j++1),\sum_{i=1}^{N-1}\frac{2i+1}{\lambda_i}(\mathcal{W}^{ij\ell})^2=\frac{1}{N|j-\ell|(j+\ell+1)}, i=1N1(1)iλi(2i+1)(Wij)2=(1)N+1(λj+λ)Wj,\sum_{i=1}^{N-1}(-1)^i\lambda_i(2i+1)(\mathcal{W}^{ij\ell})^2=(-1)^{N+1}(\lambda_j+\lambda_\ell)\mathcal{W}_j^\ell, i=1N1λi(2i+1)(Wij)2=(N21)(λj+λ)2λjλN(N21),\sum_{i=1}^{N-1}\lambda_i(2i+1)(\mathcal{W}^{ij\ell})^2=\frac{(N^2-1)(\lambda_j+\lambda_\ell)-2\lambda_j\lambda_\ell}{N(N^2-1)}, i=1N12i+1λi(1N+(1)i+j+NWji)=2HjN.\sum_{i=1}^{N-1}\frac{2i+1}{\lambda_i}\left(\frac1N+(-1)^{i+j+N}\mathcal{W}_j^i\right)=\frac{2H_j}{N}.

These identities are proposed from recurring numerical patterns in the Ricci-curvature computations and extend standard Wigner 6j6j summation formulas; the source gives no resolution beyond numerical evidence.

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Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Leandro Lichtenfelz, Klas Modin and Stephen C. Preston, “Ricci curvature for hydrodynamics on the sphere”, arXiv:2508.09833 (2025).

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