Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 October 2014
For the $(d+1)$-dimensional Lie group $G=\mathbb{Z}_{p}^{\times }\ltimes \mathbb{Z}_{p}^{\oplus d}$, we determine through the use of $p$-power congruences a necessary and sufficient set of conditions whereby a collection of abelian $L$-functions arises from an element in $K_{1}(\mathbb{Z}_{p}\unicode[STIX]{x27E6}G\unicode[STIX]{x27E7})$. If $E$ is a semistable elliptic curve over $\mathbb{Q}$, these abelian $L$-functions already exist; therefore, one can obtain many new families of higher order $p$-adic congruences. The first layer congruences are then verified computationally in a variety of cases.