Generalized Lucas congruences and linear $p$-schemes

Abstract: We observe that a sequence satisfies Lucas congruences modulo $p$ if and only if its values modulo $p$ can be described by a linear $p$-scheme, as introduced by Rowland and Zeilberger, with a single state. This simple observation suggests natural generalizations of the notion of Lucas congruences. To illustrate this point, we prove explicit generalized Lucas congruences for integer sequences that can be represented as the constant terms of $P(x,y)^n Q(x,y)$ where $P$ and $Q$ are certain Laurent polynomials.