Related papers: A primality criterion based on a Lucas' congruence
Let $n, k$ and $a$ be positive integers. The Stirling numbers of the first kind, denoted by $s(n,k)$, count the number of permutations of $n$ elements with $k$ disjoint cycles. Let $p$ be a prime. In recent years, Lengyel, Komatsu and…
We present a method for obtaining congruences modulo powers of a prime number~$p$ for combinatorial sequences whose generating function satisfies an algebraic differential equation. This method generalises the one by Kauers and the authors…
For $k=1,2,\ldots$ let $H_k$ denote the harmonic number $\sum_{j=1}^k 1/j$. In this paper we establish some new congruences involving harmonic numbers. For example, we show that for any prime $p>3$ we have…
If p is a prime and n a positive integer, let v(n) denote the exponent of p in n, and u(n)=n/p^{v(n)} the unit part of n. If k is a positive integer not divisible by p, we show that the p-adic limit of (-1)^{pke} u((kp^e)!) as e goes to…
For various positive integers $k$, the sums of $k$th powers of the first $n$ positive integers, $S_k(n+1)=1^k+2^k+...+n^k$, have got to be some of the most popular sums in all of mathematics. In this note we prove that for each $k\ge 2 $$…
The harmonic numbers $H_n=\sum_{0<k\le n}1/k\ (n=0,1,2,\ldots)$ play important roles in mathematics. Let $p>3$ be a prime. With helps of some combinatorial identities, we establish the following two new congruences:…
We prove the Ribenboim hypothesis, which states that if, starting from some integer $N$, consecutive prime numbers $p_ {n}$, $p_{n+1}$ satisfy the inequality $\sqrt {p_ {n+1}}-\sqrt{p_{n}} <1$, then the Landau problem # 4 (1912) has a…
Let ${\mathcal{P}_{n}}$ denote the set of positive integers which are prime to $n$. Let $B_{n}$ be the $n$-th Bernoulli number. For any prime $p \ge 11$ and integer $r\ge 2$, we prove that $$ \sum\limits_{\begin{smallmatrix}…
Let $t\in\mathbb{N}_+$ be given. In this article we are interested in characterizing those $d\in\mathbb{N}_+$ such that the congruence $$\frac{1}{t}\sum_{s=0}^{t-1}{n+d\zeta_t^s\choose d-1}\equiv {n\choose d-1}\pmod{d}$$ is true for each…
Let $k\geq 2$ be a fixed natural number. We establish the existence of infinitely many pairs of consecutive primes $p_n$, $p_{n+1}$ satisfying $$ p_{n+1}-p_n\geq c\:\frac{\log p_n\: \log_2 p_n\: \log_4 p_n}{\log_3 p_n}\:,$$ with $c$ being a…
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…
A primorial prime is a prime number of the form $p_n\# \pm 1$ where $p_n\#$ denotes the product of all primes less than or equal to $p_{n}$, the $n$-th prime. We show that the probability along the lines of Mertens' Theorem that either…
We give a short proof for an explicit upper bound on the proportion of permutations of a given prime order $p$, acting on a finite set of given size $n$, which is sharp for certain $n$ and $p$. Namely, we prove that if $n\equiv k\pmod{p}$…
A primitive root modulo an integer $n$ is the generator of the multiplicative group of integers modulo $n$. Gauss proved that for any prime number $p$ greater than $3$, the sum of its primitive roots is congruent to $1$ modulo $p$ while its…
In this paper, we prove a congruence which confirms a conjecture of Adamchuk. For any prime $p\equiv1\pmod3$ and $a\in\mathbb{Z}^{+}$, we have \begin{align*} \sum_{k=1}^{\frac{2}3(p^a-1)}\binom{2k}k\equiv0\pmod{p^2}. \end{align*}
For coprime positive integers $q$ and $e$, let $m(q,e)$ denote the least positive integer $t$ such that there exists a sum of $t$ powers of $q$ which is divisible by $e$. We prove an upper bound for $m(q.e)$ and investigate the case where…
For any integer $k$, M.Kaneko defined $k$-th poly-Bernoulli numbers as a kind of generalization of classical Bernoulli numbers using $k$-th polylogarithm. In case when $k$ is positive, $k$-th poly-Bernoulli numbers is a sequence of rational…
Let $\omega^*(n) = \{d|n: d=p-1, \mbox{$p$ is a prime}\}$. We show that, for each integer $k\geq2$, $$ \sum_{n\leq x}\omega^*(n)^k \asymp x(\log x)^{2^k-k-1}, $$ where the implied constant may depend on $k$ only. This confirms a recent…
Let $\{A'_n\}$ be the Ap\'ery numbers given by $A'_n=\sum_{k=0}^n\binom nk^2\binom{n+k}k.$ For any prime $p\equiv 3\pmod 4$ we show that $A'_{\frac{p-1}2}\equiv \frac{p^2}3\binom{\frac{p-3}2}{\frac{p-3}4}^{-2}\pmod {p^3}$. Let $\{t_n\}$ be…
Let $E\subset \mathbb Z$ be a set of positive upper density. Suppose that $P_1,P_2,..., P_k\in \mathbb Z[X]$ are polynomials having zero constant terms. We show that the set $E\cap (E-P_1(p-1))\cap ... \cap (E-P_k(p-1))$ is non-empty for…