Minimal polynomial of Pascal matrices over the field \(\mathbb{Z}_p\) (Q5937449)

The Pascal functional matrix \(P_n[x,y]\) is defined here as the \((n+1)\times(n+1)\) matrix whose \(ij\)-th entry is \(x^{i-j}y^j{i \choose j}\) if \(i\geq j\geq 0\) and zero otherwise. The authors show that \(P_n[x,y]P_n[u,v]=P_n[x+yu,yv]\) for any \(x,y,u,v\) from an arbitrary field and natural number \(n\). They use this to prove a generalisation of Tepper's identity; namely that \(\sum_{k=0}^n(-1)^k{n \choose k}(x+k)^m=\delta_{n,m}(-1)^mm!\) for integers \(n\geq m\geq 0\) and any real \(x\), where \(\delta\) is the Kronecker delta.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThey use this result to show that \((1-x)^p\) is the minimal polynomial of \(P_n[1,1]\) over \(\mathbb Z_p\), where \(p\) is prime and \(n\geq p-1\). This settles a problem posed by \textit{M. Razpet} [Discrete Math. 135, No. 1-3, 377-379 (1994; Zbl 0819.05004)].