On some universal sums of generalized polygonal numbers

TL;DR

This paper proves the universality of certain sums of generalized polygonal numbers over integers, confirming some conjectures and providing elementary proofs accessible to a broad audience.

Contribution

It establishes the universality of specific sums of generalized polygonal numbers over integers, confirming conjectures by Sun and contrasting with previous results over natural numbers.

Findings

Certain sums of pentagonal numbers are universal over integers.

Specific sums involving generalized 3, 5, 7, 11-gonal numbers are universal over integers.

Elementary proofs make the results accessible to a broad audience.

Abstract

For $m=3,4,\ldots$ those $p_m(x)=(m-2)x(x-1)/2+x$ with $x\in\mathbb Z$ are called generalized $m$-gonal numbers. Sun [13] studied for what values of positive integers $a,b,c$ the sum $ap_5+bp_5+cp_5$ is universal over $\mathbb Z$ (i.e., any $n\in\mathbb N=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$ has the form $ap_5(x)+bp_5(y)+cp_5(z)$ with $x,y,z\in\mathbb Z$). We prove that $p_5+bp_5+3p_5\,(b=1,2,3,4,9)$ and $p_5+2p_5+6p_5$ are universal over $\mathbb Z$, as conjectured by Sun. Sun also conjectured that any $n\in\mathbb N$ can be written as $p_3(x)+p_5(y)+p_{11}(z)$ and $3p_3(x)+p_5(y)+p_7(z)$ with $x,y,z\in\mathbb N$; in contrast, we show that $p_3+p_5+p_{11}$ and $3p_3+p_5+p_7$ are universal over $\mathbb Z$. Our proofs are essentially elementary and hence suitable for general readers.