Related papers: A combinatorial identity with application to Catal…

Let $p$ be a prime with $p>3$, and let $a,b$ be two rational $p-$integers. In this paper we present general congruences for $\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\binom ak\binom{-1-a}k\frac p{k+b}\pmod {p^2}$. For $n=0,1,2,\ldots$ let $D_n$ and $b_n$ be Domb…

The identity j/n {kn}\choose{n+j} =(k-1) {kn-1}\choose{n+j-1}- {kn-1}\choose{n+j} shows that j/n {kn}\choose{n+j} is always an integer. Here we give a combinatorial interpretation of this integer in terms of lattice paths, using a uniformly…

The Delannoy polynomial $D_n(x)$ is defined by $$ D_n(x)=\sum_{k=0}^{n}{n\choose k}{n+k\choose k}x^k. $$ We prove that, if $x$ is an integer and $p$ is a prime not dividing $x(x+1)$, then \begin{align*} \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}(2k+1)D_k(x)^3…

In this paper, we mainly establish a congruence for a sum involving Ap\'{e}ry numbers, which was conjectured by Z.-W. Sun. Namely, for any prime $p>3$ and positive odd integer $m$, we prove that there is a $p$-adic integer $c_m$ only…

For each positive integer $m$, the $m$th order harmonic numbers are given by $$H_n^{(m)}=\sum_{0<k\le n}\frac1{k^m}\ \ (n=0,1,2,\ldots).$$ We discover exact values of some series involving harmonic numbers of order not exceeding four. For…

We show that if p is an odd prime then $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}E_kE_{p-1-k}=1 (mod p)$$ and $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-3}E_kE_{p-3-k}=(-1)^{(p-1)/2}2E_{p-3} (mod p),$$ where E_0,E_1,E_2,... are Euler numbers. Moreover, we prove that for any positive integer…

We establish combinatorial interpretations of several identities for the Catalan and Fine numbers and, along the way, we present some new bijections of independent interest. Briefly, we show that C_{n} = 1/(n+1) Sum_{k} (n+1)choose(2k+1)…

In this paper we deduce some new supercongruences modulo powers of a prime $p>3$. Let $d\in\{0,1,\ldots,(p-1)/2\}$. We show that $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{\binom{2k}k\binom{2k}{k+d}}{8^k}\equiv 0\ (\mbox{mod}\ p)\ \ \ \mbox{if}\ d\equiv…

For every nonzero integer $m$ and every integer $n \ge 1$, the $n$\textsuperscript{th} harmonic number $H_n = 1 + \tfrac12 + \dots + \tfrac1n$ satisfies the identity \[ H_n \;=\; \frac{1}{m}\,\sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{(-1)^{k+1}}{k}\, \binom{m…

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:…

For $0\leq k \leq n$, the number $C(n,k)$ represents the number of all lattice paths in the plane from the point $(0,0)$ to the point $(n,k)$, using steps $(1,0)$ and $(0,1)$, that never rise above the main diagonal $y=x$. The Fuss-Catalan…

In this paper we obtain some sophisticated combinatorial congruences involving binomial coefficients and confirm two conjectures of the author and Davis. They are closely related to our investigation of the periodicity of the sequence…

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…

Let $p>3$ be a prime. In this paper, we obtain the congruences for $$\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{w(k)\binom{2k}k^3}{(-8)^k},\ \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\frac{w(k)\binom{2k}k^2\binom{3k}k}{(-192)^k},\…

In this paper we establish some congruences involving the Ap\'ery numbers $\beta_{n}=\sum_{k=0}^{n}\binom{n}{k}^2\binom{n+k}{k}$ $(n=0,1,2,\ldots)$. For example, we show that $$\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(11k^2+13k+4)\beta_k\equiv0\pmod{2n^2}$$ for…

Let p be an odd prime and let a be a positive integer. In this paper we investigate the sum $\sum_{k=0}^{p^a-1}\binom{hp^a-1}{k}\binom{2k}{k}/m^k$ mod p^2, where h,m are p-adic integers with m\not=0 (mod p). For example, we show that if…

We present a different proof of the following identity due to Munarini, which generalizes a curious binomial identity of Simons. \begin{align*} \sum_{k=0}^{n}\binom{\alpha}{n-k}\binom{\beta+k}{k}x^k…

Let $B_{n}$ denote the Bernoulli numbers, and $S(n,k)$ denote the Stirling numbers of the second kind. We prove the following identity $$ B_{m+n}=\sum_{\substack{0\leq k \leq n \\ 0\leq l \leq m}}\frac{(-1)^{k+l}\,k!\, l!\,…

The \emph{$q,t$-Catalan numbers} $C_n(q,t)$ are polynomials in $q$ and $t$ that reduce to the ordinary Catalan numbers when $q=t=1$. These polynomials have important connections to representation theory, algebraic geometry, and symmetric…

A Catalan word is one on the alphabet of positive integers starting with $1$ in which each subsequent letter is at most one more than its predecessor. Let $\mathcal{C}_n$ denote the set of Catalan words of length $n$. In this paper, we give…