# $1+\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{3}+\ldots+\frac{1}{23}=\frac{a}{23!}$, find $a$ mod 13.

Let $a\in\mathbb{N}$ be such that $1+\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{3}+\ldots+\frac{1}{23}=\frac{a}{23!}$. Find $a$ mod 13.

My working:
By Wilson's Theorem, 23 is prime so $22!\equiv-1$ (mod 23) $\implies 23!\equiv0$ (mod 23).
13 is prime so $12!\equiv -1$ (mod 13) $\implies 13!\equiv0$ (mod 13)

I cannot find any other Theorem to use, and I am also struggling to relate 23 and 13. I also have little clue about how to work on fraction.

Can anybody please give some help? Thank you.

• You don't need Wilson's theorem to prove that $n! \equiv 0 \pmod{n}$... that's trivial because $n! = \color{red}{n} \cdot (n-1) \dotsm 1$. – A.P. Nov 19 '15 at 11:19

Multiply the original equation through by $23!$. Then you have $a$ on the right and a number of integer terms on the left. All but one of the left-hand terms will be divisible by 13.
So all you have to find is $$1\cdot2\cdot3\cdots11\cdot12\cdot14\cdot15\cdots22\cdot23 \bmod 13$$ This is the same as $$\frac{(1\cdot2\cdot3\cdots11\cdot12)\cdot(14\cdot15\cdots24\cdot 25)}{24\cdot25} \bmod 13$$ but even without Wilson's theorem, each factor in the 1-to-12 part of the numerator pairs up with its inverse modulo 13 in the 14-to-25 part, so this is the same as $$\frac{1}{24\cdot 25} \equiv \frac1{(-2)(-1)} \equiv \frac12 \pmod{13}$$
$1+\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{3}+\ldots+\frac{1}{23}=\frac{a}{23!}$
$\Rightarrow \frac{2\cdot 3\cdot 4\cdot \cdot \cdot 22 \cdot 23+....+ 1 \cdot 2\cdot 3\cdot \cdot 20\cdot 21\cdot 22}{23!}=\frac{a}{23!}$
By comparison, we see that $a=2\cdot 3\cdot 4\cdot \cdot \cdot 22 \cdot 23+....+ 1 \cdot 2\cdot 3\cdot \cdot 20\cdot 21\cdot 22 = \frac{23!}{1}+\frac{23!}{2}+\frac{23!}{3}+\ldots+\frac{23!}{23}$
Now as we can see, $a \equiv \frac{23!}{13} \pmod {13}$