A primality criterion based on a Lucas' congruence

Let $p$ be a prime. In 1878 \'{E}. Lucas proved that the congruence $${p-1\choose k}\equiv (-1)^k\pmod{p}$$ holds for any nonnegative integer $k\in\{0,1,\ldots,p-1\}$. The converse statement was given in Problem 1494 of {\it Mathematics Magazine} proposed in 1997 by E. Deutsch and I.M. Gessel. In this note we generalize this converse assertion by the following result: If $n>1$ and $q>1$ are integers such that $${n-1\choose k}\equiv (-1)^k \pmod{q}$$ for every integer $k\in\{0,1,\ldots, n-1\}$, then $q$ is a prime and $n$ is a power of $q$.Comment: 6 page

Wolstenholme's theorem: Its Generalizations and Extensions in the last hundred and fifty years (1862--2012)

In 1862 Wolstenholme proved that for any prime $p\ge 5$ the numerator of the fraction $$1+\frac 12 +\frac 13+...+\frac{1}{p-1}$$ written in reduced form is divisible by $p^2$, $(2)$ and the numerator of the fraction $$1+\frac{1}{2^2} +\frac{1}{3^2}+...+\frac{1}{(p-1)^2}$$ written in reduced form is divisible by $p$. The first of the above congruences, the so called {\it Wolstenholme's theorem}, is a fundamental congruence in combinatorial number theory. In this article, consisting of 11 sections, we provide a historical survey of Wolstenholme's type congruences and related problems. Namely, we present and compare several generalizations and extensions of Wolstenholme's theorem obtained in the last hundred and fifty years. In particular, we present more than 70 variations and generalizations of this theorem including congruences for Wolstenholme primes. These congruences are discussed here by 33 remarks. The Bibliography of this article contains 106 references consisting of 13 textbooks and monographs, 89 papers, 3 problems and Sloane's On-Line Enc. of Integer Sequences. In this article, some results of these references are cited as generalizations of certain Wolstenholme's type congruences, but without the expositions of related congruences. The total number of citations given here is 189.Comment: 31 pages. We provide a historical survey of Wolstenholme's type congruences (1862-2012) including more than 70 related results and 106 references. This is in fact version 2 of the paper extended with congruences (12) and (13

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