Related papers: On prime chains

For two odd primes $p$ and $q$ such that $p<q$, let $A(p,q):=(a_k)_{k=1}^{\infty}$ be the arithmetic progression whose $k$th term is given by $a_k=(k-1)(q-p)+p$ (i.e., with $a_1=p$ and $a_2=q$). Here we conjecture that for every positive…

Let p be any odd prime. We mainly show that $$\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}binomial(3k,k)*2^k/k=0 (mod p)$$ and $$\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}2^{k-1}C_k^{(2)}=(-1)^{(p-1)/2}-1 (mod p),$$ where $C_k^{(2)}=binomial(3k,k)/(2k+1)$ is the $k$th Catalan number of order…

Kurepa's conjecture states that there is no odd prime $p$ that divides $!p=0!+1!+\cdots+(p-1)!$. We search for a counterexample to this conjecture for all $p<2^{34}$. We introduce new optimization techniques and perform the computation…

For a prime $p\ge 5$ let $q_0,q_1,\ldots,q_{(p-3)/2}$ be the quadratic residues modulo $p$ in increasing order. We study two $(p-3)/2$-periodic binary sequences $(d_n)$ and $(t_n)$ defined by $d_n=q_n+q_{n+1}\bmod 2$ and $t_n=1$ if…

Let k>1 be an integer and let p be a prime. We show that if $p^a\le k<2p^a$ or $k=p^aq+1$ (with 2q<p) for some a=1,2,..., then the set {\binom{n}{k}: n=0,1,2,...} is dense in the ring Z_p of p-adic integers, i.e., it contains a complete…

We prove that if $q$ is a power of a prime $p$ and $p^k$ divides $a$, with $k\ge 0$, then \[ 1+(q-1)\sum_{0\le b(q-1)<a} \binom{a}{b(q-1)}\equiv 0\pmod{p^{k+1}}. \] The special case of this congruence where $q=p$ was proved by Carlitz in…

Let $q$ be a prime. We classify the odd primes $p\neq q$ such that the equation $x^2\equiv q\pmod{p}$ has a solution, concretely, we find a subgroup $\mathbb{L}_{4q}$ of the multiplicative group $\mathbb{U}_{4q}$ of integers relatively…

Let $m$ and $n>0$ be integers. Suppose that $p$ is a prime dividing $m-4$ but not dividing $m$. We show that $\nu_p(\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k}{m^k})$ and $\nu_p(\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}\binom{n-1}{k}(-1)^k\frac{\binom{2k}k}{m^k})$ are at…

Suppose that $d \in \{ 2, 3, 4, 6 \}$ and $a \in \mathbb{Z}$ with $a\neq -1$ and $a$ is not square. Let $P_{(a,d)}$ be the number of primes $p$ not exceeding $x$ such that $p \equiv 1 \pmod{d}$ and $a^{(p-1)/d} \equiv 1 \pmod{p}$. In this…

We give a short proof of the following known congruence: for every odd prime $p$ $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}{2k\choose k}^2 16^{-k}\equiv (-1)^{{p-1\over 2}}\pmod{p^2}.$$ Moreover, we provide some new results connected with the above congruence.

Let $p$ be an odd prime, and let $m$ be an integer with $p\nmid m$. In this paper show that $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k\binom ak\binom{-1-a}k}{m^k} \equiv 0\pmod p \quad\hbox{implies}\quad\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k\binom ak…

Let $A$ be a subset of integers and let $2\cdot A+k\cdot A=\{2a_1+ka_2 : a_1,a_2\in A\}$. Y. O. Hamidoune and J. Ru\' e proved that if $k$ is an odd prime and $A$ a finite set of integers such that $|A|>8k^k$, then $|2\cdot A+k\cdot A|\ge…

We study pairs of consecutive odd numbers through a straightforward indexing. We focus in particular on twin primes and their distribution. With a counting argument, we calculate the limit of an alternating sum that is equal to 1 which…

Let $(b_n) = (b_1, b_2, ...)$ be a sequence of integers. A primitive prime divisor of a term $b_k$ is a prime which divides $b_k$ but does not divide any of the previous terms of the sequence. A zero orbit of a polynomial $f(z)$ is a…

If p is a prime, then the numbers 1, 2, ..., p-1 form a group under multiplication modulo p. A number g that generates this group is called a primitive root of p; i.e., g is such that every number between 1 and p-1 can be written as a power…

Let $n$ be a positive integer. We discuss pairs of distinct odd primes $p$ and $q$ not dividing $n$ for which the Diophantine equations $pq=x^2+ny^2$ have integer solutions in $x$ and $y$. As its examples we classify all such pairs of $p$…

In this paper we establish some sophisticated congruences involving central binomial coefficients and Fibonacci numbers. For example, we show that if $p\not=2,5$ is a prime then $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}F_{2k}\binom{2k}{k}=(-1)^{[p/5]}(1-(p/5))…

Let $A$ be a finite set of integers. We show that if $k$ is a prime power or a product of two distinct primes then $$|A+k\cdot A|\geq(k+1)|A|-\lceil k(k+2)/4\rceil$$ provided $|A|\geq (k-1)^{2}k!$, where $A+k\cdot A=\{a+kb:\ a,b\in A\}$. We…

We show that substantially more than a quarter of the odd integers of the form $pq$ up to $x$, with $p,q$ both prime, satisfy $p\equiv q\equiv 3 \pmod 4$.

Let $p$ be an odd prime. For any $p$-adic integer $a$ we let $\overline{a}$ denote the unique integer $x$ with $-p/2<x<p/2$ and $x-a$ divisible by $p$. In this paper we study some permutations involving quadratic residues modulo $p$. For…