Combinatorial Congruences and $ψ$-Operators

Abstract

The $ψ$-operator for $(ϕ, Γ)$-modules plays an important role in the study of Iwasawa theory via Fontaine's big rings. In this note, we prove several sharp estimates for the $ψ$-operator in the cyclotomic case. These estimates immediately imply a number of sharp $p$-adic combinatorial congruences, one of which extends the classical congruences of Fleck (1913) and Weisman (1977).