First we define a function $f(x,p)$, with $x$ a natural number and with $p$ a prime number.
$f(x,p)$ stands for the location where the digit "$p-1$" first appears in the base-$p$ expansion of $x$. If the digit "$p-1$" doesn't appear, $f(x,p)$ will be equal to $-\infty$. That is, if $x=\sum_{i\geq 0} a_i p^i$ with $0\leq a_i < p$, then $f(x,p)=\min\{i : a_i=p-1\}$. For example:
- $f((122)_3,3)=0$;
- $f((561603)_7,7)=2$;
- $f((123)_5,5)=-\infty$;
- $f((651634316331)_7,7)=3$.
Now consider a positive integer $A=(a_m a_{m-1} \cdots a_1a_0)_p$ with $f(A,p)=m$, i.e., $a_m=p-1$, $a_0,a_1,\cdots,a_{m-1}\neq p-1$.
My problem is how to prove that for any $h \in [0,2^{m-1}-1]\cap \mathbb{Z}$, which has at most $p-1$ digit "$1$" in binary representation. there is a $k \in \mathbb{Z}^+$ with $A-(p-1)k \geq 0$, satisfies that,
$$2^{f(A-k,p)} \ \mathbf{xor}\ 2^{f(A-2k,p)} \ \mathbf{xor} \ \cdots \ \mathbf{xor} \ 2^{f(A-(p-1)k,p)} = h$$
Edit: I (the one making the edit, not the OP) am not sure how to parse the problem. Is the following equivalent?
Let $h_0,h_1,\dots, h_{m-2}\in \{0,1\}$ with $\sum h_i < p$. Is there necessarily a positive integer $k$ with $A-(p-1)k\geq0$ and for $0\leq i \leq m-2$ $$\left| \{ j : 1\leq j < p, f(A-jk,p)=i \} \right| \equiv h_i \pmod{2}?$$
To Kevin O'Bryant,
Yes, it's equivalent to my version.