English

For which 2-adic integers $x$ can $\sum_k \binom xk^{-1}$ be defined?

Number Theory 2013-01-14 v1

Abstract

Let f(n)=k(nk)1f(n)=\sum_k \binom nk^{-1}. In a previous paper, we defined for a p-adic integer x that f(x) is p-definable if lim f(xj)f(x_j) exists in QpQ_p, where xjx_j denotes the mod pjp^j reduction of xx. We proved that if p is odd, then -1 is the only element of ZpNZ_p-N for which f(x) is p-definable. For p=2, we proved that if the 1's in the binary expansion of x are eventually extraordinarily sparse, then f(x) is 2-definable. Here we present some conjectures that f(x) is 2-definable for many more 2-adic integers. We discuss the extent to which we can prove these conjectures.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1301.2532,
  title  = {For which 2-adic integers $x$ can $\sum_k \binom xk^{-1}$ be defined?},
  author = {Donald M. Davis},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.2532},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

Preliminary report

R2 v1 2026-06-21T23:07:58.463Z