An operator on permutations and its application to Eulerian numbers (Q5942878)

The paper introduces an operator \(\sigma\) on the set of \(n!\) permutations of an \(n\)-element set, which preserves the number of ascents and descents. \(\sigma\) assigns to the permutation \(A= a_1a_2\cdots a_n\) the permutation \(\sigma A=(a_1+ 1)(a_2+ 1)\cdots(a_n+ 1)\) (writing \(1\) to the place of \(n+1\)), with two exceptions. If \(a_1= n\), then \(\sigma A= (a_2+ 1)(a_3+ 1)\cdots(a_n+ 1)1\), and if \(a_n= n\), then \(\sigma A= 1(a_1+ 1)(a_2+ 1)\cdots(a_{n-1}+ 1)\). The action of \(\sigma\) is studied, and purely combinatorial proofs are given to the following congruences of the Eulerian numbers \(e(n,k)\): (1) for \(p\) prime, \(e(p^m, k)\equiv 1\text{ mod }p\) for all \(0\leq k\leq p^m- 1\), (2) for \(p\) prime, \(e(p- 1,k)\equiv 1\text{ mod }p\) for all \(0\leq k\leq p-2\), and (3) for \(p\) prime, \(\{e(p, k)- (k+1) e(p-1,k)+ ke(p- 1,k-1)\}/p\equiv 1\text{ mod }p\) for all \(0\leq k\leq p-2\).