A Distinct Covering System with Minimum Modulus 7 and Minimal Least Common Multiple 10080
Abstract
We determine the minimum possible least common multiple of a distinct covering system whose minimum modulus is . Klein previously constructed such a system with least common multiple and conjectured that this value was minimal. We give a construction with least common multiple , and we prove that no smaller least common multiple can occur. The proof is organized as a successive filtering argument. Starting from the possible multiples of below , we first apply a reciprocal-sum filter, then a divisor-completed integer-programming filter, then a stronger partial-sum filter. The few remaining hard cases are finally certified by complete Gurobi computations.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.19029,
title = {A Distinct Covering System with Minimum Modulus 7 and Minimal Least Common Multiple 10080},
author = {Jiheng Zhang and Shiliang Zhang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.19029},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
12 pages, no figures. Includes complete Gurobi computations; code available at https://github.com/zhangshiliang502-droid/Distinct-Covering-System-With-m-7