We show that for every $r \geq 1$, and all $r$ distinct (sufficiently large) primes $p_1,..., p_r > p_0(r)$, there exist infinitely many integers $n$ such that ${2n \choose n}$ is divisible by these primes to only low multiplicity. From a theorem of Kummer, an upper bound for the number of times that a prime $p_j$ can divide ${2n \choose n}$ is $1+\log n / \log p_j$; and our theorem shows that for every $\varepsilon > 0$, $r \geq 1$, and any sufficiently large primes $p_1,...,p_r > p_0(\varepsilon,r)$, we can find integers $n$ where for $j=1,...,r$, $p_j$ divides ${2n \choose n}$ with multiplicity at most $\varepsilon \log n/\log p_j$. We connect this result to a famous conjecture by R. L. Graham on whether there are infinitely many integers $n$ such that ${2n \choose n}$ is coprime to $105$.
We prove the divisibility conjecture on sums of even powers of $q$-binomial coefficients, which was recently proposed by Guo, Schlosser and Zudilin. Our proof relies on two $q$-harmonic series congruences due to Shi and Pan.
With help of $q$-congruence, we prove the divisibility of some binomial sums. For example, for any integers $ρ,n\geq 2$, $$\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(4k+1) \binom{2k}{k}^ρ\cdot (-4)^{ρ(n-1-k)} \equiv 0\pmod{2^{ρ-2}n\binom{2n}{n}}.$$
By using the Rodriguez-Villegas-Mortenson supercongruences, we prove four supercongruences on sums involving binomial coefficients, which were originally conjectured by Sun. We also confirm a related conjecture of Guo on integer-valued polynomials.
We first prove that if $a$ has a prime factor not dividing $b$ then there are infinitely many positive integers $n$ such that $\binom {an+bn} {an}$ is not divisible by $bn+1$. This confirms a recent conjecture of Z.-W. Sun. Moreover, we provide some new divisibility properties of binomial coefficients: for example, we prove that $\binom {12n} {3n}$ and $\binom {12n} {4n}$ are divisible by $6n-1$, and that $\binom {330n} {88n}$ is divisible by $66n-1$, for all positive integers $n$. As we show, the latter results are in fact consequences of divisibility and positivity results for quotients of $…
Let $a,b$ and $n$ be positive integers with $a>b$. In this note, we prove that $$(2bn+1)(2bn+3){2bn \choose bn}\bigg|3(a-b)(3a-b){2an \choose an}{an\choose bn}.$$ This confirms a recent conjecture of Amdeberhan and Moll.
In this paper, we consider two particular binomial sums \begin{align*} \sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(20k^2+8k+1){\binom{2k}{k}}^5 (-4096)^{n-k-1} \end{align*} and \begin{align*} \sum_{k=0}^{n-1}(120k^2+34k+3){\binom{2k}{k}}^4\binom{4k}{2k} 65536^{n-k-1}, \end{align*} which are inspired by two series for $\frac{1}{π^2}$ obtained by Guillera. We consider their divisibility properties and prove that they are divisible by $2n^2 \binom{2n}{n}^2$ for all integer $n\geq 2$. These divisibility properties are stronger than those divisibility results found by He, who proved the above two sums are divisible by $2n \b…
For all positive integers n, we prove the following divisibility properties: $$(2n+3){2n\choose n} | 3{6n\choose 3n}{3n\choose n}, and (10n+3){3n\choose n} | 21{15n\choose 5n} {5n\choose n}.$$ This confirms two recent conjectures of Z.-W. Sun. Some similar divisibility properties are given. Moreover, we show that, for all positive integers m and n, the product $am{am+bm-1\choose am}{an+bn\choose an}$ is divisible by m+n. In fact, the latter result can be generalized to the q-binomial coefficients and q-integers case, which generalizes the positivity of q-Catalan numbers. We also propose severa…
We examine an elementary problem on prime divisibility of binomial coefficients. Our problem is motivated by several related questions on alternating groups.
For nonnegative integers $j$ and $n$ let $Θ(j,n)$ be the number of entries in the $n$-th row of Pascal's triangle that are not divisible by $2^{j+1}$. In this paper we prove that the family $j\mapstoΘ(j,n)$ usually follows a normal distribution. The method used for proving this theorem involves the computation of first and second moments of $Θ(j,n)$, and uses asymptotic analysis of multivariate generating functions by complex analytic methods, building on earlier work by Drmota (1994) and Drmota, Kauers and Spiegelhofer (2016).
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 $$\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{3k+1}{16^k}\binom{2k}{k}^3\equiv p+2\left(\frac{-1}{p}\right)p^3E_{p-3}\pmod{p^4},$$ where $p>3$ is a prime and $E_0,E_1,E_2,\cdots$ are Euler numbers.
We show that for every fixed $\ell\in\mathbb{N}$, the set of $n$ with $n^\ell|\binom{2n}{n}$ has a positive asymptotic density $c_\ell$, and we give an asymptotic formula for $c_\ell$ as $\ell\to \infty$. We also show that $\# \{n\le x, (n,\binom{2n}{n})=1 \} \sim cx/\log x$ for some constant $c$. One novelty is a method to capture the effect of large prime factors of integers in general sequences.
In this paper we compute the exact divisibility of exponential sums associated to binomials $F(X)=aX^{d_1} +b X^{d_2}$. In particular, for the case where $\max\{d_1,d_2\}\leq\sqrt{p-1}$, the exact divisibility is computed. As a byproduct of our results, we obtain families of binomials that do not permute $\mathbb{F}_p$, and a lower bound for the sizes of value sets of binomials over $\mathbb{F}_p$. Additionally, we obtain a new criterion to determine if a polynomial defines or not a permutation of $\mathbb{F}_p$ that depends on the divisibility of the exponential sum associated to the polynomi…
Let k and n be positive integers. We mainly show that $$(ln+1) | k\binom{kn+ln}{kn},$$ $$2\binom{kn}n | \binom {2n}{n}C_{2n}^{(k-1)}$$, $$\binom{kn}n | (2k-1)C_n\binom{2kn}{2n},$$ $$\binom{2n}n | (k+1)C_n^{(k-1)}\binom{2kn}{kn},$$ $$2^{k-1}\binom{2n}{n} | \binom{2(2^k-1)n}{(2^k-1)n}C_n^{(2^k-2)},$$ $$(6n+1)\binom{5n}{n} | \binom{3n-1}{n-1}C_{3n}^{(4)},$$ and $$\binom{3n}{n} | \binom{5n-1}{n-1}C_{5n}^{(2)},$$ where C_n denotes the Catalan number $\binom{2n}{n}/(n+1)$, and C_m^{(h)} refers to the Catalan number $\binom{(h+1)m}{m}/(hm+1)$ of order h.
We establish a congruence on sums of central $q$-binomial coefficients. From this $q$-congruence, we derive the divisibility of the $q$-trinomial coefficients introduced by Andrews and Baxter.
Francis Castro, et al [2] computed the exact divisibility of families of exponential sums associated to binomials $F(X) = aX^{d_1} + bX^{d_2}$ over $\mathbb{F}_p$, and a conjecture is presented for related work. Here we study this question.
In this paper, we prove the following result conjectured by Z.-W. Sun: $$ (2n-1){3n\choose n}| \sum_{k=0}^{n}{6k\choose 3k}{3k\choose k}{6(n-k)\choose 3(n-k)}{3(n-k)\choose n-k}. $$ by showing that the left-hand side divides each summand on the right-hand side.
In Pacific J. Math. 292 (2018), 223-238, Shareshian and Woodroofe asked if for every positive integer $n$ there exist primes $p$ and $q$ such that, for all integers $k$ with $1 \leq k \leq n-1$, the binomial coefficient $\binom{n}{k}$ is divisible by at least one of $p$ or $q$. We give conditions under which a number $n$ has this property and discuss a variant of this problem involving more than two primes. We prove that every positive integer $n$ has infinitely many multiples with this property.
In this paper, we prove a divisibility result for the lacunary $q$-binomial sum $$ \sum_{k\equiv r\pmod{c}}(-1)^kq^{\binom{k}{2}}\qbinom{n}{k}{q}\qbinom{(k-r)/c}{l}{q^{c}}. $$
The coefficients c(n,k) defined by (1-k^2x)^(-1/k) = sum c(n,k) x^n reduce to the central binomial coefficients for k=2. Motivated by a question of H. Montgomery and H. Shapiro for the case k=3, we prove that c(n,k) are integers and study their divisibility properties.
We provide a way to modify and to extend a previously established inequality by P. Erdős, R. Graham and others and to answer a conjecture posed in the nineties by R. Graham, which bears on the lack of divisibility of the central binomial coefficient by three distinct, fixed odd primes. In fact the result will show by using an approach similar to their own which they proved for the case of two fixed odd primes, that the central binomial coefficient is not divisible infinitely often by three distinct and fixed odd primes. Therefore a generalization to more fixed odd primes than three but finite …
Consider the Weil sum $W_{F,d}(u)=\sum_{x \in F} ψ(x^d+u x)$, where $F$ is a finite field of characteristic $p$, $ψ$ is the canonical additive character of $F$, $d$ is coprime to $|F^*|$, and $u \in F^*$. We say that $W_{F,d}(u)$ is three-valued when it assumes precisely three distinct values as $u$ runs through $F^*$: this is the minimum number of distinct values in the nondegenerate case, and three-valued $W_{F,d}$ are rare and desirable. When $W_{F,d}$ is three-valued, we give a lower bound on the $p$-adic valuation of the values. This enables us to prove the characteristic $3$ case of a 19…
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 $$ \sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\binom{p-1}k\binom{2k}k^2\frac{P_k}{8^k}\equiv0\pmod{p^2} $$ for any prime $p\equiv 7\mod{8}$, where $P_k$ is the $k$-th Pell number. Further, we also propose three new congruences of the same type.
We investigate algebraic and arithmetic properties of a class of sequences of sparse polynomials that have binomial coefficients both as exponents and as coefficients. In addition to divisibility and irreducibility results we also consider rational roots. This leads to the study of an infinite class of integer sequences which have interesting properties and satisfy linear recurrence relations.
By using the Newton interpolation formula, we generalize the recent identities on the Catalan triangle obtained by Miana and Romero as well as those of Chen and Chu. We further study divisibility properties of sums of products of binomial coefficients and an odd power of a natural number. For example, we prove that for all positive integers $n_1, ..., n_m$, $n_{m+1}=n_1$, and any nonnegative integer $r$, the expression $$n_1^{-1}{n_1+n_{m}\choose n_1}^{-1} \sum_{k=1}^{n_1}k^{2r+1}\prod_{i=1}^{m} {n_i+n_{i+1}\choose n_i+k}$$ is either an integer or a half-integer. Moreover, several related conj…
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 $r$, there holds {align*} \sum_{k=0}^{n_1}ε^k (2k+1)^{2r+1}\prod_{i=1}^{m} {n_i+n_{i+1}+1\choose n_i-k} \equiv 0 \mod (n_1+n_m+1){n_1+n_m\choose n_1}, {align*} and conjecture that for any nonnegative integer $r$ and positive integer $s$ such that $r+s$ is odd, $$ \sum_{k=0}^{n}ε^k (2k+1)^{r}({2n\choose n-k}-{2n\choose n-k-1})^{s} \equiv 0 \mod{2n\choose n}, $$…
Z.-W. Sun introduced three kinds of numbers: \begin{align*}S_n=\sum_{k=0}^{n}{n\choose k}^2{2k\choose k}(2k+1),\qquad s_n=\sum_{k=0}^{n}{n\choose k}^2{2k\choose k}\frac{1}{2k-1}, \end{align*} and $S_n^{+}=\sum_{k=0}^{n}{n\choose k}^2{2k\choose k}(2k+1)^2$. In this paper we mainly prove that \begin{align*} 4\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}kS_k\equiv \sum_{k=0}^{n-1}s_k\equiv \sum_{k=0}^{n-1}S_k^{+}\equiv 0\pmod{n^2}\quad\text{for $n\geqslant 1$}, \end{align*} by establishing some binomial coefficient identities, such as \begin{align*} 4\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}kS_k=n^2\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}\frac{1}{k+1}{2k\choose k}(6k{n-1\c…
This paper studies the product $\bar{G}_n$ of the binomial coefficients in the n-th row of Pascal's triangle, which equals the reciprocal of the product of all the reduced and unreduced Farey fractions of order n. It studies its size as a real number, measured by its logarithm $log(\bar{G}_n)$, and its prime factorization, measured by the order of divisibility by a fixed prime p, each viewed as a function of n. It derives three formulas for its prime power divisibility, $ord_p(\bar{G}_n)$, two of which relate it to base p radix expansions of n, and which display different facets of its behavio…
We show that, for all positive integers $n_1, \ldots, n_m$, $n_{m+1}=n_1$, and any non-negative integers $j$ and $r$ with $j\leqslant m$, the expression $$ \frac{1}{[n_1]}{n_1+n_{m}\brack n_1}^{-1} \sum_{k=1}^{n_1}[2k][k]^{2r}q^{jk^2-(r+1)k}\prod_{i=1}^{m} {n_i+n_{i+1}\brack n_i+k} $$ is a Laurent polynomial in $q$ with integer cofficients, where $[n]=1+q+\cdots+q^{n-1}$ and ${n\brack k}=\prod_{i=1}^k(1-q^{n-i+1})/(1-q^i)$. This gives a $q$-analogue of a divisibility result on the Catalan triangle obtained by the first author and Zeng, and also confirms a conjecture of the first author and Zen…
(Dieudonné and) Dwork's lemma gives a necessary and sufficient condition for an exponential of a formal power series $S(z)$ with coefficients in $Q_p$ to have coefficients in $Z_p$. We establish theorems on the $p$-adic valuation of the coefficients of the exponential of $S(z)$, assuming weaker conditions on the coefficients of $S(z)$ than in Dwork's lemma. As applications, we provide several results concerning lower bounds on the $p$-adic valuation of the number of permutation representations of finitely generated groups. In particular, we give fairly tight lower bounds in the case of an arbi…
In this paper we consider the generalized Catalan numbers F(s,n)= 1/((s-1)n+1) binom{sn}{n}. We find all $n$ such that for $p$ prime, p^q divides F(p^q,n), q>=1. As a byproduct we settle a question of Hough and the late Simion on the divisibility of the 4-Catalan numbers. We also prove that \binom{p^qn+1}{n}, p^q<=99999, is squarefree for n sufficiently large (explicit), and with the help of the generalized Catalan numbers we find the set of possible exceptions. As consequences, we obtain that binom{4n+1}{n}, binom{9n+1}{n} are squarefree for n> 2^{1518}, respectively n>3^{956}, with at most 2…
Binomial coefficients with divisors avoiding an interval
University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）；Brigham Young University（杨百翰大学）；University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校）；Simion Stoilow Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy（罗马尼亚科学院西蒙·斯托伊洛数学研究所）
We prove that, for all positive integers $n_1, \ldots, n_m$, $n_{m+1}=n_1$, and non-negative integers $j$ and $r$ with $j\leqslant m$, the following two expressions \begin{align*} &\frac{1}{[n_1+n_m+1]}{n_1+n_{m}\brack n_1}^{-1}\sum_{k=0}^{n_1} q^{j(k^2+k)-(2r+1)k}[2k+1]^{2r+1}\prod_{i=1}^m {n_i+n_{i+1}+1\brack n_i-k},\\[5pt] &\frac{1}{[n_1+n_m+1]}{n_1+n_{m}\brack n_1}^{-1}\sum_{k=0}^{n_1}(-1)^k q^{{k\choose 2}+j(k^2+k)-2rk}[2k+1]^{2r+1}\prod_{i=1}^m {n_i+n_{i+1}+1\brack n_i-k} \end{align*} are Laurent polynomials in $q$ with integer coefficients, where $[n]=1+q+\cdots+q^{n-1}$ and ${n\brack k…
A sequence of nonzero integers $f = (f_1, f_2, \dots)$ is ``binomid'' if every $f$-binomid coefficient $\left[\! \begin{array}{c} n \\ k \end{array}\! \right]_f$ is an integer. Those terms are the generalized binomial coefficients: \[ \left[\! \begin{array}{c} n \\ k \end{array}\! \right]_f \ = \ \frac{ f_nf_{n-1}\cdots f_{n-k+1} }{ f_kf_{k-1}\cdots f_1 }. \] Let $Δ(f)$ be the infinite triangle with those numbers as entries. When $I = (1, 2, 3, \dots)$ then $Δ(I)$ is Pascal's Triangle so that $I$ is binomid. Surprisingly, every row and column of Pascal's Triangle is also binomid. For any $f$, …
