A Survey of Some Recent Developments on Higher Transcendental Functions of Analytic Number Theory and Applied Mathematics

Often referred to as special functions or mathematical functions, the origin of many members of the remarkably vast family of higher transcendental functions can be traced back to such widespread areas as (for example) mathematical physics, analytic number theory and applied mathematical sciences. Here, in this survey-cum-expository review article, we aim at presenting a brief introductory overview and survey of some of the recent developments in the theory of several extensively studied higher transcendental functions and their potential applications. For further reading and researching by those who are interested in pursuing this subject, we have chosen to provide references to various useful monographs and textbooks on the theory and applications of higher transcendental functions. Some operators of fractional calculus, which are associated with higher transcendental functions, together with their applications, have also been considered. Many of the higher transcendental functions, especially those of the hypergeometric type, which we have investigated in this survey-cum-expository review article, are known to display a kind of symmetry in the sense that they remain invariant when the order of the numerator parameters or when the order of the denominator parameters is arbitrarily changed.

Counting multiplicative groups with prescribed subgroups

We examine two counting problems that seem very group-theoretic on the surface but, on closer examination, turn out to concern integers with restrictions on their prime factors. First, given an odd prime [Formula: see text] and a finite abelian [Formula: see text]-group [Formula: see text], we consider the set of integers [Formula: see text] such that the Sylow [Formula: see text]-subgroup of the multiplicative group [Formula: see text] is isomorphic to [Formula: see text]. We show that the counting function of this set of integers is asymptotic to [Formula: see text] for explicit constants [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] depending on [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Second, we consider the set of integers [Formula: see text] such that the multiplicative group [Formula: see text] is “maximally non-cyclic”, that is, such that all of its prime-power subgroups are elementary groups. We show that the counting function of this set of integers is asymptotic to [Formula: see text] for an explicit constant [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is Artin’s constant. As it turns out, both of these group-theoretic problems can be reduced to problems of counting integers with restrictions on their prime factors, allowing them to be addressed by classical techniques of analytic number theory.

Christopher Hooley. 7 August 1928—13 December 2018

Christopher Hooley was one of the leading analytic number theorists of his day, world-wide. His early work on Artin’s conjecture for primitive roots remains the definitive investigation in the area. His greatest contribution, however, was the introduction of exponential sums into every corner of analytic number theory, bringing the power of Deligne’s ‘Riemann hypothesis’ for varieties over finite fields to bear throughout the subject. For many he was a figure who bridged the classical period of Hardy and Littlewood with the modern era. This biographical sketch describes how he succeeded in applying the latest tools to famous old problems.