An extension of Wilson's Theorem

Abstract

Let $\mathcal{N}[k]$ be the multiset containing the $\left(\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{n-1}{k}\right)$ products of $k$-subsets of $\{1,\dots ,n-1\}$. We show that if $n\ge (2c+3{)}^2$, then \begin{gather*}\left((-1)^c+\sum_{M\in \mathcal{N}[n-1-c]}M\right)\cdot(c+1)\equiv 0\pmod{n},\end{gather*} if and only if $n=(c+1)p$, where $p$ is prime. This provides a combinatorial extension of Wilson's Theorem, which is the special case where $c=0$.

8 pages