Related papers: A Stern-type congruence for the Schroder numbers
In this paper, we can show that \begin{align*} S_{\Lambda}(x)=\sum_{1\leq n\leq x}\Lambda \left(\left[\frac{x}{n}\right]\right)= \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{\Lambda(n)}{n(n+1)}x +O\left(x^{7/15+1/195+\varepsilon}\right), \end{align*} where…
We present several upper and lower bounds on the Kronecker coefficients of the symmetric group. We prove $k$-stability of the Kronecker coefficients generalizing the (usual) stability, and giving a new upper bound. We prove a lower bound…
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 a general family of congruences for Bernoulli numbers whose index is a polynomial function of a prime, modulo a power of that prime. Our family generalizes many known results, including the von Staudt--Clausen theorem and Kummer's…
We show that for a fixed integer $n \neq \pm2$, the congruence $x^2 + nx \pm 1 \equiv 0 \pmod{\alpha}$ has the solution $\beta$ with $0 < \beta < \alpha$ if and only if $\alpha/\beta$ has a continued fraction expansion with sequence of…
Inspired by Cohen and te Riele~\cite{Cohen1996}, who computationally verified that for every $n \leq 400$ there exists $k$ such that $\sigma^k(n) \equiv 0 \pmod{n}$ (where $\sigma^k$ denotes the $k$-fold iteration of the sum-of-divisors…
In this paper, we investigate the Euler sums $$ G_{n+2}(p,q)=\sum_{1\leq k_1<k_2<\cdots<k_{p+1}}\frac1{k_1k_2\cdots k_pk_{p+1}^{n+2}} \sum_{1\leq\ell_1\leq\ell_2\leq\cdots\leq\ell_q\leq k_{p+1}}\frac1{\ell_1\ell_2\cdots\ell_q}. $$ We give…
The product $s_\mu s_\nu$ of two Schur functions is one of the most famous examples of a Schur-positive function, i.e. a symmetric function which, when written as a linear combination of Schur functions, has all positive coefficients. We…
There are many open problems concerning the characterization of the positive integers $n$ fulfilling certain congruences and involving the Euler totient function $\varphi$ and the sum of positive divisors function $\sigma$ of the positive…
Let $w_{n+2}=pw_{n+1}+qw_{n}$ for $n\geq0$ with $w_0=a$ and $w_1=b$. In this paper we find an explicit expression, in terms of determinants, for $\sum_{n\geq0} w_n^kx^n$ for any $k\geq1$. As a consequence, we derive all the previously known…
We obtain the Schur positivity of spider graphs of the forms $S(a,2,1)$ and $S(a,4,1)$, which are considered to have the simpliest structures for which the Schur positivity was unknown. The proof outline has four steps. First, we find…
We present yet another algebraic proof of the unimodality of the binomial coefficients.
The Ward numbers $W(n,k)$ combinatorially enumerate set partitions with block sizes $\geq 2$ and phylogenetic trees (total partition trees). We prove that $W(n,k)$ also counts \emph{increasing Schr\"oder trees} by verifying they satisfy…
We prove a Tverberg type theorem: Given a set $A \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ in general position with $|A|=(r-1)(d+1)+1$ and $k\in \{0,1,\ldots,r-1\}$, there is a partition of $A$ into $r$ sets $A_1,\ldots,A_r$ with the following property. The…
In this paper, by constructing some identities, we prove some $q$-analogues of some congruences. For example, for any odd integer $n>1$, we show that \begin{gather*} \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} \frac{(q^{-1};q^2)_k}{(q;q)_k} q^k \equiv (-1)^{(n+1)/2}…
Let $p$ be a prime, and let $f(x)$ be an integer-valued polynomial. By a combinatorial approach, we obtain a nontrivial lower bound of the $p$-adic order of the sum $$\sum_{k=r(mod p^{\beta})}\binom{n}{k}(-1)^k f([(k-r)/p^{\alpha}]),$$…
In this paper, we prove two conjectures of Z.-W. Sun: $$2n\binom{2n}n\big|\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(3k+1)\binom{2k}k^3{16}^{n-1-k}\ \mbox{for}\ \mbox{all}\ n=2,3,\cdots,$$ and $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{3k+1}{16^k}\binom{2k}{k}^3\equiv…
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…
We prove congruences, modulo a power of a prime p, for certain finite sums involving central binomial coefficients $\binom{2k}{k}$.
We consider several families of binomial sum identities whose definition involves the absolute value function. In particular, we consider centered double sums of the form \[S_{\alpha,\beta}(n) :=…