[Math] prime numbers in Pascal’s triangle

binomial-coefficientsprime numbers

Just wondering about this:

Is it true that there are no prime numbers in Pascal's triangle, with the exception of $\binom{n}{1}$ and $\binom{n}{n-1}$?

From the first 18 lines it appears that this is true, but I haven't looked beyond that.
Is this a coincidence or is there a reason for it?

Best Answer

Yes, it's true. The identity ${m \choose n} = \frac{m}{n} {m-1 \choose n-1}$ can be rearranged as $n {m \choose n} = m {m-1 \choose n-1}$. If ${m \choose n}$ is prime it follows that it must divide either $m$ or ${m-1 \choose n-1}$. In the first case we can only have $n = 1, n = m-1$, as you have already observed, and in the second case, the quotient $\frac{n}{m}$ cannot be an integer unless $n = m$ or $n = 0$, and neither of these cases gives a prime.

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