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A curious congruence modulo primes

Number Theory 2026-07-08 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

For integers l>0l>0 and m0m\geqslant0, we introduce the numbers Sl(m)(n)=k1,,klNk1++kl=n(nk1,,kl)m  (n=0,1,2,),S_l^{(m)}(n)=\sum_{k_1,\ldots,k_l\in\mathbb N\atop k_1+\cdots+k_l=n}\binom n{k_1,\ldots,k_l}^m \ \ (n=0,1,2,\ldots), and prove that for any prime pp not dividing l+1l+1 we have the congruence n=1p1(1)mnnm1Sl(m)(n)0(modp).\sum_{n=1}^{p-1}\frac{(-1)^{mn}}{n^{m-1}}S_l^{(m)}(n)\equiv0\pmod p. When l=4l=4 and m=2m=2, this yields the curious congruence n=1p1D(n)n0(modp)\sum_{n=1}^{p-1}\frac{D(n)}n\equiv0\pmod p for any prime p5p\not=5, where the Domb number D(n)D(n) is given by D(n)=k=0n(nk)2(2kk)(2(nk)nk).D(n)=\sum_{k=0}^n\binom nk^2\binom{2k}k\binom{2(n-k)}{n-k}.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.07638,
  title  = {A curious congruence modulo primes},
  author = {Zhi-Wei Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.07638},
  year   = {2026}
}

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7 pages