A generalization of a fourth irreducibility theorem of I. Schur

Abstract

Let $u_{2j}$ be the product of the odd positive integers $< 2j$. For $n$ an integer $\ge 1$, define \[ f(x)=\sum_{j=0}^{n}a_j\frac{x^{2j}}{u_{2j+2}}, \] where the $a_j$'s are arbitrary integers with $|a_0|=1$. In 1929, I. Schur established a general theorem about the factorization of $f(x)$ in the case that $|a_{n}| = 1$. We establish a more general result in which $|a_{n}|$ is allowed to be larger, and show that the result is in some sense best possible.