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

Variations of Kurepa's left factorial hypothesis

Kurepa's hypothesis asserts that for each integer $n\ge 2$ the greatest common divisor of $!n:=\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}k!$ and $n!$ is $2$. Motivated by an equivalent formulation of this hypothesis involving derangement numbers, here we give a formulation of Kurepa's hypothesis in terms of divisibility of any Kurepa's determinant $K_p$ of order $p-4$ by a prime $p\ge 7$. In the previous version of this article we have proposed the strong Kurepa's hypothesis involving a general Kurepa's determinant $K_n$ with any integer $n\ge 7$. We prove the ``even part'' of this hypothesis which can be considered as a generalization of Kurepa's hypothesis. However, by using a congruence for $K_n$ involving the derangement number $S_{n-1}$ with an odd integer $n\ge 9$, we find that the integer $11563=31\times 373$ is a counterexample to the ``odd composite part'' of strong Kurepa's hypothesis. We also present some remarks, divisibility properties and computational results closely related to the questions on Kurepa's hypothesis involving derangement numbers and Bell numbers.Comment: 18 pages. This is the previous (first) version of the article extended with Section 4 where we disprove the "odd composite part''of Strong Kurepa's hypothesi

Harmful and toxic algae

The chapter provides basic facts about harmful and toxic algae. It also discusses the conditions that stimulate their occurrence, different types of harmful and toxic algal blooms and their effects to fish and marine environment. The different strategies in coping with the problem of harmful and toxic algal blooms are also discussed

Congruences for Wolstenholme primes

A prime number $p$ is said to be a Wolstenholme prime if it satisfies the congruence ${2p-1\choose p-1} \equiv 1 \,\,(\bmod{\,\,p^4})$. For such a prime $p$, we establish the expression for ${2p-1\choose p-1}\,\,(\bmod{\,\,p^8})$ given in terms of the sums $R_i:=\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}1/k^i$ ($i=1,2,3,4,5,6)$. Further, the expression in this congruence is reduced in terms of the sums $R_i$ ($i=1,3,4,5$). Using this congruence, we prove that for any Wolstenholme prime, $${2p-1\choose p-1}\equiv 1 -2p \sum_{k=1}^{p-1}\frac{1}{k} -2p^2\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}\frac{1}{k^2}\pmod{p^7}.$$ Moreover, using a recent result of the author \cite{Me}, we prove that the above congruence implies that a prime $p$ necessarily must be a Wolstenholme prime. Applying a technique of Helou and Terjanian \cite{HT}, the above congruence is given as the expression involving the Bernoulli numbers.Comment: pages 1