A supercongruence is a congruence between rational numbers modulo a power of a prime. In this paper, we give a technique for finding and algorithmically proving supercongruences by expressing terms as infinite series involving certain generalizations of the harmonic numbers. We apply the technique to derive many new supercongruences. We also provide software for finding and proving supercongruences using our technique.
Several recent works involve computer algorithms for proving congruences. Rowland and Yassawi @cite_24 given an automatic method for proving congruences for diagonal coefficients of multi-variate rational power series. The results of @cite_24 are generalized by Rowland and Zeilberger in @cite_3 . A very recent paper of Chen, Hou, and Zeilberger @cite_16 gives an algorithm for proving congruences modulo @math for certain power series coefficients.
@cite_24 @cite_16 @cite_3
2011123341 2011936157 2170546552 2000931246
In this paper, which may be considered a sequel to a recent article by Eric Rowland and Reem Yassawi, we present yet another approach for the automatic generation of automata (and an extension that we call congruence linear schemes) for the fast (log-time) determination of congruence properties, modulo small (and not so small!) prime powers, for a wide class of combinatorial sequences. Even more interesting than the new results that could be obtained is the illustrated methodology, that of designing ‘meta-algorithms’ that enable the computer to develop algorithms, that it (or another computer) can then proceed to use to actually prove (potentially!) infinitely many new results. This paper is accompanied by a Maple package, AutoSquared, and numerous sample input and output files, that readers can use as templates for generating their own, thereby proving many new ‘theorems’ about congruence properties of many famous (and, of course, obscure) combinatorial sequences. Consider a (D x D) symmetric matrix A whose entries are linear forms in Q[X1, ..., Xk] with coefficients of bit size ≤ τ. We provide an algorithm which decides the existence of rational solutions to the linear matrix inequality A ≥ 0 and outputs such a rational solution if it exists. This problem is of first importance: it can be used to compute algebraic certificates of positivity for multivariate polynomials. Our algorithm runs within (k≤)O(1)2O(min(k, D)D2)DO(D2) bit operations; the bit size of the output solution is dominated by τO(1)2O( (k, D)D2). These results are obtained by designing algorithmic variants of constructions introduced by Klep and Schweighofer. This leads to the best complexity bounds for deciding the existence of sums of squares with rational coefficients of a given polynomial. We have implemented the algorithm; it has been able to tackle Scheiderer's example of a multivariate polynomial that is a sum of squares over the reals but not over the rationals; providing the first computer validation of this counter-example to Sturmfels' conjecture. Mulmuley [Mul12a] recently gave an explicit version of Noether’s Normalization lemma for ring of invariants of matrices under simultaneous conjugation, under the conjecture that there are deterministic black-box algorithms for polynomial identity testing (PIT). He argued that this gives evidence that constructing such algorithms for PIT is beyond current techniques. In this work, we show this is not the case. That is, we improve Mulmuley’s reduction and correspondingly weaken the conjecture regarding PIT needed to give explicit Noether Normalization. We then observe that the weaker conjecture has recently been nearly settled by the authors ([FS12]), who gave quasipolynomial size hitting sets for the class of read-once oblivious algebraic branching programs (ROABPs). This gives the desired explicit Noether Normalization unconditionally, up to quasipolynomial factors. As a consequence of our proof we give a deterministic parallel polynomial-time algorithm for deciding if two matrix tuples have intersecting orbit closures, under simultaneous conjugation. We also study the strength of conjectures that Mulmuley requires to obtain similar results as ours. We prove that his conjectures are stronger, in the sense that the computational model he needs PIT algorithms for is equivalent to the well-known algebraic branching program (ABP) model, which is provably stronger than the ROABP model. Finally, we consider the depth-3 diagonal circuit model as defined by Saxena [Sax08], as PIT algorithms for this model also have implications in Mulmuley’s work. Previous work (such as [ASS12] and [FS12]) have given quasipolynomial size hitting sets for this model. In this work, we give a much simpler construction of such hitting sets, using techniques of Shpilka and Volkovich [SV09]. Let f be a random Boolean formula that is an instance of 3-SAT. We consider the problem of computing the least real number k such that if the ratio of the number of clauses over the number of variables of f strictly exceeds k , then f is almost certainly unsatisfiable. By a well-known and more or less straightforward argument, it can be shown that kF5.191. This upper bound was improved by to 4.758 by first providing new improved bounds for the occupancy problem. There is strong experimental evidence that the value of k is around 4.2. In this work, we define, in terms of the random formula f, a decreasing sequence of random variables such that, if the expected value of any one of them converges to zero, then f is almost certainly unsatisfiable. By letting the expected value of the first term of the sequence converge to zero, we obtain, by simple and elementary computations, an upper bound for k equal to 4.667. From the expected value of the second term of the sequence, we get the value 4.601q . In general, by letting the U This work was performed while the first author was visiting the School of Computer Science, Carleton Ž University, and was partially supported by NSERC Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council . of Canada , and by a grant from the University of Patras for sabbatical leaves. The second and third Ž authors were supported in part by grants from NSERC Natural Sciences and Engineering Research . Council of Canada . During the last stages of this research, the first and last authors were also partially Ž . supported by EU ESPRIT Long-Term Research Project ALCOM-IT Project No. 20244 . †An extended abstract of this paper was published in the Proceedings of the Fourth Annual European Ž Symposium on Algorithms, ESA’96, September 25]27, 1996, Barcelona, Spain Springer-Verlag, LNCS, . pp. 27]38 . That extended abstract was coauthored by the first three authors of the present paper. Correspondence to: L. M. Kirousis Q 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 1042-9832r98r030253-17 253