On the residues of binomial coefficients and their products modulo prime powers (Q1862879)

Let \(p\) be a prime. The authors prove congruences mod \(p^k\) (\(k \geq 1\)) for various binomial coefficients and their products. They also discuss connections to prime recognition. For example, the authors study the product \(A_n = \prod_{0\leq j\leq n-1}{{n-1}\choose j}\) and obtain smooth results for \(A_p\bmod p^4\) and \(A_{p^2}\bmod p^6\). They also find the residue mod \(p^k\) for a single factor \({{n-1}\choose j}\) provided \(p^k\) divides \(n\), thus generalizing a classical result (with \(n=p\)) by E.\ Lucas. A nice corollary of the authors' results is the congruence \[ {{pq-1}\choose{(pq-1)/2}} \equiv {{p-1}\choose {(p-1)/2}} {{q-1}\choose {(q-1)/2}} \pmod {pq}, \] where \(p\) is odd and \(q\) is another odd prime. Moreover, the validity of the corresponding congruence mod \(p^2q^2\) is shown to be a very rare occasion, requiring among other things that max\((p,q)\) be a Wieferich prime.