Computing solutions to the congruence ${1^n + 2^n + \dotsb + n^n\equiv p \pmod{n}}$

Abstract

It is well-known that the congruence $\sum_{i=1}^{ n} i^{ n} \equiv 1 \pmod{n}$ has exactly five solutions: $\{1,2,6,42,1806\}$. In this work, we characterize the solutions to the congruence $1^n + 2^n + \dotsb + n^n\equiv p \pmod{n}$ for every prime $p$. This characterization leads to an algorithm for computing all such solutions, when there is a finite number of them. More generally, our algorithm enables computing all the solutions below a much higher bound as compared to what can be achieved by a naive exhaustive search.