On a determinant involving linear combinations of Legendre symbols

TL;DR

This paper evaluates a specific determinant involving linear combinations of Legendre symbols for odd primes, confirming a conjecture and providing explicit formulas, especially when the prime is congruent to 3 mod 4.

Contribution

It proves a conjecture by explicitly evaluating a determinant involving Legendre symbols for all odd primes, extending previous partial results.

Findings

Determinant equals x when p ≡ 3 mod 4

Explicit formulas for the determinant for all odd primes

Confirmed the conjecture of the second author

Abstract

In this paper, we prove a conjecture of the second author by evaluating the determinant $$\det\left[x+\left(\frac{i-j}p\right)+\left(\frac ip\right)y+\left(\frac jp\right)z+\left(\frac{ij}p\right)w\right]_{0\le i,j\le(p-3)/2}$$ for any odd prime $p$, where $(\frac{\cdot}p)$ denotes the Legendre symbol. In particular, the determinant is equal to $x$ when $p\equiv 3\pmod4$.