English

A counterexample to a subadditivity conjecture of Cohen for Sophie Germain cyclic numbers

Number Theory 2026-07-09 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

An integer n1n \ge 1 is cyclic if gcd(n,φ(n))=1\gcd(n,\varphi(n))=1 (equivalently, if every group of order nn is cyclic), and Sophie Germain cyclic if both nn and 2n+12n+1 are cyclic. Let Cσ(N)C_\sigma(N) count the Sophie Germain cyclic integers in [1,N][1,N]. Cohen conjectured that CσC_\sigma is subadditive, Cσ(m+n)Cσ(m)+Cσ(n)C_\sigma(m+n) \le C_\sigma(m)+C_\sigma(n) for all 1mn1 \le m \le n (his Conjecture 66), having checked m,n106m,n \le 10^6 without finding a counterexample. We give one: at m=31m=31, n=3928n=3928, Cσ(3959)=697>696=Cσ(31)+Cσ(3928)C_\sigma(3959)=697 > 696 = C_\sigma(31)+C_\sigma(3928). The argument is short, and is verified by the Lean 4 kernel.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.09793,
  title  = {A counterexample to a subadditivity conjecture of Cohen for Sophie Germain cyclic numbers},
  author = {Josué Alexander Ibarra},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.09793},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

3 pages. Ancillary file: Lean 4 formalization (anc/cohen66.lean); the refutation is Lean kernel-checked, depending only on propext, Classical.choice, and Quot.sound