For which p-adic integers x can Sum_k binomial(x,k)^(-1) be defined?

Abstract

Let f(n)= Sum binomial(n,k)^(-1). First, we show that f:N to Q_p is nowhere continuous in the p-adic topology. If x is a p-adic integer, we say that f(x) is p-definable if lim f(x_j) exists in Q_p, where x_j denotes the jth partial sum for x. We prove that f(-1) is p-definable for all primes p, and if p is odd, then -1 is the only element of Z_p - N for which f(x) is p-definable. For p=2, we show that if k is a positive integer, then f(-k-1) is not 2-definable, but that if the 1's in the binary expansion of x are eventually very sparse, then f(x) is 2-definable. Some of our proofs require that p satisfy one of two conditions. There are three small primes that do not satisfy the relevant condition, but our theorems can be proved directly for these primes. No other prime less than 100,000,000 fails to satisfy the conditions.