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An improved lower bound for odd integers not of the form $p+2^a+2^b$

Number Theory 2026-07-06 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

Let xx be sufficiently large and N(x)={nx:n is odd and np+2a+2b with p a prime and a,bN}. N(x)=\big|\bigl\{n\le x:n\ \text{is odd and }n\ne p+2^a+2^b \textrm{ with } p \text{ a prime and } a,b\in \mathbb{N}\bigr\}\big|. Motivated by Crocker's result N(x)loglogx, N(x)\gg \log\log x, Erd\H os repeatedly asked whether there is an absolute constant c0c_0 such that N(x)>c0xN(x)>c_0x. Pan \cite{Pan} proved in 2011 that N(x)xexp ⁣(C0loglogloglogxlogloglogxlogx), N(x)\gg x\exp\!\left( -C_0\frac{\log\log\log\log x}{\log\log\log x}\log x \right), where C0>0C_0>0 is an absolute constant. We improve on Pan's result by showing that, given any η>0\eta>0, for all sufficiently large xx, N(x)ηxexp((4+η)logloglogxloglogxlogx). N(x)\gg_\eta x\exp\left(-(4+\eta)\frac{\log\log\log x}{\log\log x}\log x\right).

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.05357,
  title  = {An improved lower bound for odd integers not of the form $p+2^a+2^b$},
  author = {Yuchen Ding and Yu-Chen Sun and Lilu Zhao},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.05357},
  year   = {2026}
}

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9 pages