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paul Monsky
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The mod 3 reduction of some powers of delta

Let f in Z/3[[x]] be the mod 3 reduction of the Fourier expansion of the normalized weight 12 cusp form delta for the full modular group. The exponents appearing in f are all 1 mod 3. Fix k>0 and prime to 3. If j is 1 or 2, let S(j) consist of all primes p for which the coefficient of x^p in f^k is j. It's well known that if k=1, S(1) is empty and S(2) consists of all p that are 1 mod 3.

I find experimentally that similar results hold when k is 2,4,5 or 10. Indeed it seems:

  1. When k=2, S(1) is all p that are 2 mod 9, S(2) all p that are 5 mod 9

  2. When k=4, S(1) is all p that are 4 or 7 mod 9, S(2) is empty

  3. When k=5, S(1) is all p that are 5,7 or 20 mod 27, S(2) all p that are 8,11, or 23 mod 27

  4. When k=10, S(1) is all p that are 13 or 25 mod 27, S(2) all p that are 16 or 22 mod 27.

I have little doubt that these results hold. But are they known, and is there a reference?

EDIT: For the case of reduction mod 2 rather than mod 3, see my recent question, "Does this theorem of Hasse....?" . But it seems less likely that techniques from the theory of binary and ternary quadratic forms can yield a proof of the above "results".

paul Monsky
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