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Universal murmuration and Hecke augmentation

Number Theory · Submitted 1 Sep 2026 · 20 references

Pith's verdict: Solid trace-formula extension and honestly controlled experiments, but Proposition 4.3's validity for every fixed k is asserted rather than proved and needs to be pinned down before the main theorem is fully trusted.

T0 · AI review

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arXiv ID2609.00777 (version 1)
Pith IDMULWOBL6, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review
CitationChung Pang Mok, Shenghao Hua. "Universal murmuration and Hecke augmentation." arXiv:2609.00777 (2026). https://pith.science/paper/MULWOBL6
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Referee report
The paper

The paper claims

Prime-power coefficients share one murmuration profile

The reading

This paper proves that for weight 2 newforms, the root-number-weighted average of the k-th symmetric-power coefficient at a prime P, when placed at the effective position P^k / X, is given by the same function G as the prime coefficient (k=1) case. This means prime powers sample the same leading murmuration pattern. The result is proved for every fixed k>=2 under short-window and growth conditions. The paper also leverages this connection to suggest using Hecke-derived coordinates (H2, H3) as features in machine learning, which gives a modest but consistent improvement in predicting root numbers of elliptic curves and a smaller improvement in distinguishing rank 0 versus rank 1.

What carries the argument

The Skoruppa–Zagier trace formula (Proposition 4.3) expresses the root-number-weighted Hecke trace at a prime power as a combination of class numbers and a polynomial term. The proof averages this formula over short intervals of squarefree levels using estimates for class numbers and Hooley's squarefree progression estimate, isolating the leading parabolic and hyperbolic contributions that yield a common profile independent of k.

Extended reading notes

Core claim

Theorem 1.2: Under the level-aspect and specified growth conditions, the expression $\sqrt$(X) * E_{X,Y}[ ε(f) $λ^{{sym_k}}$_f(P) ] = G(P^k/X) + o_k(1) for a continuous explicit function G, showing every fixed prime power samples the same leading murmuration function when placed at the effective position P^k/X.

Load-bearing premise

The proof depends on the Skoruppa–Zagier trace formula (Proposition 4.3) being valid for every fixed k at squarefree level, and on the short-window condition that the level interval length Y grows slower than X (Y ~ $X^{{1-δ1}}$ with δ1 < 1/8). If the trace formula does not hold for k≥3 in the squarefree case, or if the window is too wide, the common profile for k≥2 would not follow.

Editorial extensions

If this is right

  • The effective position P^k/X allows prime-power coefficients to be treated on the same footing as primes in murmuration predictions, unifying their statistical behavior.
  • Hecke coordinates H2 and H3 provide a principled way to incorporate higher-power information without additional coefficient queries, motivating structured feature augmentation.
  • The explicit form of G gives a precise asymptotic for the expected correlation between root sign and symmetric-power coefficients in large families, guiding further arithmetic statistics.
  • The result suggests that the same G function may govern all prime powers simultaneously for families where trace formulas extend to arbitrary indices.

Reading between the lines

Editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • The uniformity across fixed k suggests that the murmuration function G may be universal in the sense that it arises from a single functional equation, not merely from the trace formula. Proving this would require averaging over all k simultaneously rather than fixing k.
  • The Hecke augmentation framework could be extended to other automorphic families (e.g., Maass forms or higher weight) if analogous trace formulas for prime powers are available, linking arithmetic statistics to machine learning more broadly.
  • The empirical gain, though modest, indicates that the root-number signal is not purely linear in the prime coefficient but has a structured polynomial component, supporting the theoretical picture of a common profile.
  • The comparison between fixed-k theorem and finite-data experiment suggests that the asymptotic regime (short level windows) may not be necessary for observable predictive gains; practical benefit may appear even in moderate conductor ranges.
Original abstract

Prime coefficients of elliptic curves exhibit murmurations, statistical patterns that support the prediction of arithmetic labels. We conjecture that root number weighted averages of unitary normalized coefficients at primes and prime powers sample the same leading profile when placed at the effective position $p^k/X$, where $X$ is the conductor scale. For weight $2$ newforms of squarefree level in the level aspect, we prove this principle for every fixed $k$ under suitable short-window and growth conditions, extending Zubrilina's prime case and the square-case analysis of Kundu and M\"uller. Experiments with elliptic curve isogeny class representatives show that the resulting prime power features improve root number prediction and give a smaller gain in distinguishing ranks $0$ and $1$.

The compiled record

The paper's own sentences, arranged, kept beside the review and separate from it. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

Compiled by classifier-1.13.0 via TypeSafe API, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 3,710 input tokens.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.08 · states limitation 0.74 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.17 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.15 · compares with prior results 0.93 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v1. Results and the main claim are underlined; .

Prime coefficients of elliptic curves exhibit murmurations, statistical patterns that support the prediction of arithmetic labels. We conjecture that root number weighted averages of unitary normalized coefficients at primes and prime powers sample the same leading profile when placed at the effective position $p^k/X$, where $X$ is the conductor scale. For weight $2$ newforms of squarefree level in the level aspect, we prove this principle for every fixed $k$ under suitable short-window and growth conditions, extending Zubrilina's prime case and the square-case analysis of Kundu and M\"uller. Experiments with elliptic curve isogeny class representatives show that the resulting prime power features improve root number prediction and give a smaller gain in distinguishing ranks $0$ and $1$.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#sentencerolethe authors' own workstates the main conclusionstrength
s0 Prime coefficients of elliptic curves exhibit murmurations, statistical patterns that support the prediction of arithmetic labels. background 1.00 0.13 0.08 asserted 0.90
s1 We conjecture that root number weighted averages of unitary normalized coefficients at primes and prime powers sample the same leading profile when placed at the effective position $p^k/X$, where $X$ is the conductor scale. contribution 0.93 0.23 0.27 speculative 0.99
s2 For weight $2$ newforms of squarefree level in the level aspect, we prove this principle for every fixed $k$ under suitable short-window and growth conditions, extending Zubrilina's prime case and the square-case analysis of Kundu and M\"uller. contribution 0.59 0.95 0.67 asserted 1.00
s3 Experiments with elliptic curve isogeny class representatives show that the resulting prime power features improve root number prediction and give a smaller gain in distinguishing ranks $0$ and $1$. result 0.91 0.90 0.08 asserted 1.00

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: theoretical result 1.00 · evidence from proof or derivation 1.00.

What was examined, and what was not

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  • references and citing sentences
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  • C citations
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Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

Figures
Figure 1. Rank-conditioned murmuration profiles in the four feature representations
Figure 2. Basic murmuration profiles from ordinary prime coefficients
Figure 3. Balanced root-sign contrasts for ordinary prime coefficients and the coordinates H2 and H3 obtained from Hecke relations in 7500 ≤ N ≤ 10000. The horizontal coordinate is the effective position p k/8750. Error bars are pointwise 95 percent normal intervals based on standard errors. The second and third panels sample the same oscillatory pattern as the first panel at the available prime-power locations
Figure 4. Balanced root-sign contrasts for k = 1, . . . , 12 in 7500 ≤ N ≤ 10000. At each of the first 200 base primes, Dk(p) = {µk,+(p) − µk,−(p)}/2, where µk,±(p) is the mean of Hk(xp) = ap k /pk/2 over curves with root sign ±1 after ramified entries are omitted. Every panel uses the same vertical scale. The displayed value is Rk = (200−1 P200 j=1 Dk(pj ) 2 ) 1/2
Figure 5. Balanced accuracy for the four feature panels and five prediction tasks. The first three rank rows have a high ordinary prime baseline. The root-number row leaves more room for a visible absolute gain
Figure 6. Test error counts for the ordinary prime panel and the full aug￾mented panel. The root number and rank 0 versus rank 1 tasks show fewer errors after augmentation. The three-class task and rank 0 versus rank 2 show the task dependence of the result. Add H2 Add H3 Add H2 and H3 Added block 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 Change in balanced accuracy percentage points Root number Add H2 Add H3 Add H2 and H3 Added block 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 Change in balanced accuracy percentage points Rank 0 against rank 1 Stability across repeated fitting splits
Figure 7. Change in balanced accuracy relative to the ordinary prime panel over five stratified assignments from one fixed balanced population. Each point is one complete fit with regularization selected on validation data. The red segment is the mean. The joint H2 and H3 panel improves root-number prediction in all five assignments. and ties in one. Its mean change is 0.2900 percentage points. Its mean full accuracy is 96.5575 percent and it corresponds to about 23.2 fewer errors per 8000 test curves. Applying formula (3.5) to the mean accuracies gives relative error reductions of 2.56…
Figure 8. Root-number change in balanced accuracy as derived coordinates are added to X1. Natural prefixes follow effective index order. Random subsets use only five repetitions at each displayed size. The orange bands show the empirical 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles from five subsets. They are descriptive empirical ranges. The curve is irregular and contains several local reversals. 0 5 10 15 20 Added derived coordinates 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Change in balanced accuracy percentage points Quadratic block H2 0 2 4 6 8 Added derived coordinates Cubic block H3 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Added derived…
Figure 9. Change in balanced accuracy for rank 0 versus rank 1 as derived coordinates are added to X1. Natural prefixes follow effective index order. Orange bands show the empirical 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles from five random subsets. They are descriptive empirical ranges. The response is gradual and contains local reversals. percentage points, and all five subsets give a positive change. Random joint subsets at size 24 have mean gain 0.5975 percentage points and are positive in all five cases. Cubic subsets alone follow a different pattern. At size 6, their mean root-number change is…
Figure 10. Matched polynomial and conductor controls. The upper panels show changes relative to X1 for five random assignments; horizontal segments give means. The lower panels hold out complete conductor quintiles and plot each change at the median conductor of its test fold. preserving class balance
Figure 11. Balanced accuracy for the single-block experiment. Every column k uses 1000 features Hk(xp). Binary chance is 0.5, and three-class chance is 1/3. The labels are arithmetic invariants of the original elliptic curve. 6.9. Limitations. The empirical gain depends on the task. The full panel lowers three￾class rank balanced accuracy from 95.5750 percent to 94.6833 percent. Rank 0 versus rank 2 changes from 99.6875 percent to 99.6250 percent. Rank 1 versus rank 2 rises from 99.7125 percent to 99.8625 percent at a baseline already near the ceiling. Across tasks, the effect of additional…

Figures reproduced from arXiv:2609.00777 by the authors.

References

Discussion

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