A universal sequence of integers generating balanced Steinhaus figures modulo an odd number

In this paper, we partially solve an open problem, due to J.C. Molluzzo in 1976, on the existence of balanced Steinhaus triangles modulo a positive integer $n$, that are Steinhaus triangles containing all the elements of $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$ with the same multiplicity. For every odd number $n$, we build an orbit in $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$, by the linear cellular automaton generating the Pascal triangle modulo $n$, which contains infinitely many balanced Steinhaus triangles. This orbit, in $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$, is obtained from an integer sequence called the universal sequence. We show that there exist balanced Steinhaus triangles for at least $2/3$ of the admissible sizes, in the case where $n$ is an odd prime power. Other balanced Steinhaus figures, such as Steinhaus trapezoids, generalized Pascal triangles, Pascal trapezoids or lozenges, also appear in the orbit of the universal sequence modulo $n$ odd. We prove the existence of balanced generalized Pascal triangles for at least $2/3$ of the admissible sizes, in the case where $n$ is an odd prime power, and the existence of balanced lozenges for all admissible sizes, in the case where $n$ is a square-free odd number.Comment: 30 pages ; 10 figure

Balanced simplices

An additive cellular automaton is a linear map on the set of infinite multidimensional arrays of elements in a finite cyclic group $\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}$. In this paper, we consider simplices appearing in the orbits generated from arithmetic arrays by additive cellular automata. We prove that they are a source of balanced simplices, that are simplices containing all the elements of $\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}$ with the same multiplicity. For any additive cellular automaton of dimension $1$ or higher, the existence of infinitely many balanced simplices of $\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}$ appearing in such orbits is shown, and this, for an infinite number of values $m$. The special case of the Pascal cellular automata, the cellular automata generating the Pascal simplices, that are a generalization of the Pascal triangle into arbitrary dimension, is studied in detail.Comment: 33 pages ; 11 figures ; 1 tabl

Prime arithmetic Teichmuller discs in H(2)

It is well-known that Teichmuller discs that pass through "integer points'' of the moduli space of abelian differentials are very special: they are closed complex geodesics. However, the structure of these special Teichmuller discs is mostly unexplored: their number, genus, area, cusps, etc. We prove that in genus two all translation surfaces in H(2) tiled by a prime number n > 3 of squares fall into exactly two Teichmuller discs, only one of them with elliptic points, and that the genus of these discs has a cubic growth rate in n.Comment: Accepted for publication in Israel Journal of Mathematics. A previous version circulated with the title "Square-tiled surfaces in H(2)''. Changes from v1: improved redaction, fixed typos, added reference

Lucas' theorem: its generalizations, extensions and applications (1878--2014)

In 1878 \'E. Lucas proved a remarkable result which provides a simple way to compute the binomial coefficient ${n\choose m}$ modulo a prime $p$ in terms of the binomial coefficients of the base-$p$ digits of $n$ and $m$: {\it If $p$ is a prime, $n=n_0+n_1p+\cdots +n_sp^s$ and $m=m_0+m_1p+\cdots +m_sp^s$ are the $p$-adic expansions of nonnegative integers $n$ and $m$, then \begin{equation*} {n\choose m}\equiv \prod_{i=0}^{s}{n_i\choose m_i}\pmod{p}. \end{equation*}} The above congruence, the so-called {\it Lucas' theorem} (or {\it Theorem of Lucas}), plays an important role in Number Theory and Combinatorics. In this article, consisting of six sections, we provide a historical survey of Lucas type congruences, generalizations of Lucas' theorem modulo prime powers, Lucas like theorems for some generalized binomial coefficients, and some their applications. In Section 1 we present the fundamental congruences modulo a prime including the famous Lucas' theorem. In Section 2 we mention several known proofs and some consequences of Lucas' theorem. In Section 3 we present a number of extensions and variations of Lucas' theorem modulo prime powers. In Section 4 we consider the notions of the Lucas property and the double Lucas property, where we also present numerous integer sequences satisfying one of these properties or a certain Lucas type congruence. In Section 5 we collect several known Lucas type congruences for some generalized binomial coefficients. In particular, this concerns the Fibonomial coefficients, the Lucas $u$-nomial coefficients, the Gaussian $q$-nomial coefficients and their generalizations. Finally, some applications of Lucas' theorem in Number Theory and Combinatorics are given in Section 6.Comment: 51 pages; survey article on Lucas type congruences closely related to Lucas' theore

On Quasi-Periodicity in Proth-Gilbreath Triangles

Let PG be the Proth-Gilbreath operator that transforms a sequence of integers into the sequence of the absolute values of the differences between all pairs of neighbor terms. Consider the infinite tables obtained by successive iterations of PG applied to different initial sequences of integers. We study these tables of higher order differences and characterize those that have near-periodic features. As a biproduct, we also obtain two results on a class of formal power series over the field with two elements F2 that can be expressed as rational functions in several ways