Problem

Source: IMO ShortList 2008, Number Theory problem 4

Tags: number theory, binomial coefficients, modular arithmetic, IMO Shortlist, Hi



Let $ n$ be a positive integer. Show that the numbers \[ \binom{2^n - 1}{0},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{1},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2},\; \ldots,\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2^{n - 1} - 1}\] are congruent modulo $ 2^n$ to $ 1$, $ 3$, $ 5$, $ \ldots$, $ 2^n - 1$ in some order. Proposed by Duskan Dukic, Serbia