A bijective proof of a partition theorem of Berkovich and Uncu

Abstract

In 2016, Berkovich and Uncu proved that, for all nonnegative integers $i$, $j$, and $n$, the number of strict partitions of $n$ with $i$ odd-indexed odd parts and $j$ even-indexed odd parts equals the number of strict partitions of $n$ with $i$ parts congruent to $1$ modulo $4$ and $j$ parts congruent to $3$ modulo $4$. Their proof used generating functions, and they asked for a combinatorial proof. We answer their question with an explicit bijection, assembled from three classical ingredients: $2$-modular diagrams, an insertion algorithm of Chen, Gao, Ji, and Li, and Glaisher's bijection. AxiomProver autonomously formalized and verified the proof of the main theorem in Lean.