Related papers: Lucas' theorem: its generalizations, extensions an…

In this paper, we confirm several conjectured congruences of Sun concerning the divisibility of binomial sums. For example, with help of a quadratic hypergeometric transformation, we prove that $$…

Reliable probabilistic primality tests are fundamental in public-key cryptography. In adversarial scenarios, a composite with a high probability of passing a specific primality test could be chosen. In such cases, we need worst-case error…

Let $F_{n}$ and $L_n$ be the $n$th Fibonacci and Lucas number, respectively. For each positive integer $m$, the order of appearance of $m$ in the Fibonacci sequence, denoted by $z(m)$, is the smallest positive integer $k$ such that $m$…

Employing the $q$-Lucas theorem and some known $q$-supercongruences, we give some Dwork-type $q$-congruences, confirming three conjectures in [J. Combin. Theory, Ser. A 178 (2021), Art.~105362]. As conclusions, we obtain the following…

We prove the lower bound for the number of Lucas non-Wieferich primes in arithmetic progressions. More precisely, for any given integer $k\geq 2$ there are $\gg \log x$ Lucas non-Wieferich primes $p\leq x$ such that $p\equiv\pm1\pmod{k}$,…

The purpose of this paper is to introduce basic concepts that are fundamental in the examination of composite moduli, while avoiding the notoriously difficult problem of prime-factorization. We introduce a new class of numbers, called…

A novel polynomial expansion method of symmetric Boolean functions is described. The method is efficient for symmetric Boolean function with small set of valued numbers and has the linear complexity for elementary symmetric Boolean…

A Lehmer number modulo a prime $p$ is an integer $a$ with $1 \leq a \leq p-1$ whose inverse $\bar{a}$ within the same range has opposite parity. Lehmer numbers that are also primitive roots have been discussed by Wang and Wang in an…

Binomial coefficients and central trinomial coefficients play important roles in combinatorics. Let $p>3$ be a prime. We show that $$T_{p-1}\equiv\left(\frac p3\right)3^{p-1}\ \pmod{p^2},$$ where the central trinomial coefficient $T_n$ is…

The Gauss--Lucas theorem states that any convex set $K\subset\mathbb{C}$ which contains all $n$ zeros of a degree $n$ polynomial $p\in\mathbb{C}[z]$ must also contain all $n-1$ critical points of $p$. In this paper we explore the following…

Let L_t denote the t-th Lucas number. We prove that the Diophantine equation L_m^{n+k} + L_m^n = L_r has no solutions in positive integers r, m, n, and k with m >= 2. In the case n = 1, the proof is based on a precise factorization formula…

We study divisibility properties of certain sums and alternating sums involving binomial coefficients and powers of integers. For example, we prove that for all positive integers $n_1,..., n_m$, $n_{m+1}=n_1$, and any nonnegative integer…

In recent years, the congruence $$ \sum_{\substack{i+j+k=p\\ i,j,k>0}} \frac1{ijk} \equiv -2 B_{p-3} \pmod{p}, $$ first discovered by the last author have been generalized by either increasing the number of indices and considering the…

Through a series of elementary exercises, we explain the fractal structure of Pascal's triangle when written modulo $p$ using an 1852 theorem due to Kummer: A prime $p$ divides $\dfrac {n!}{i!j!} $ if and only if there is a carry in the…

We state a general formula for the number of binomial coefficients $n$ choose $k$ that are divided by a fixed power of a prime $p$, i.e., the number of binomial coefficients divided by $p^j$ and not divided by $p^{j+1}$.

Let $p$ be an odd prime, Jianqiang Zhao has established a curious congruence, which is $$ \sum_{i+j+k=p \atop i,j,k > 0} \frac{1}{ijk} \equiv -2B_{p-3}\pmod p , $$ where $B_{n}$ denotes the $n$-th Bernoulli number. In this paper, we will…

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}…

In this paper, by presenting bi-periodic Lucas numbers as a binomial sum, we introduce the bi-periodic incomplete Lucas numbers. After that, by using the bi-periodic incomplete Lucas numbers, we derive the recurrence relation and the…

Let $(L_n)_{n \geq 1}$ be the sequence of Lucas numbers, defined recursively by $L_1 := 1$, $L_2 := 3$, and $L_{n + 2} := L_{n + 1} + L_n$, for every integer $n \geq 1$. We determine the asymptotic behavior of $\log \operatorname{lcm} (L_1…

This paper studies so-called "null polynomials modulo m", i.e., polynomials with integer coefficients that satisfy f(x)=0 (mod m) for any integer x. The study on null polynomials is helpful to reduce congruences of higher degrees modulo m…