English

Elementary Bounds on Digital Sums of Powers, Factorials, and LCMs

Number Theory 2026-01-09 v2

Abstract

We prove logarithmic lower bounds on digital sums of powers, multiples of powers, factorials, and the least common multiple of {1,,n}\{1,\ldots, n\}, using only elementary number theory. We conclude with an expository proof of Stewart's theorem on digital sums of powers, which uses Baker's theorem on linear forms in logarithms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2511.15850,
  title  = {Elementary Bounds on Digital Sums of Powers, Factorials, and LCMs},
  author = {David G. Radcliffe},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.15850},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

15 pages, 3 figures. This version corrects errors in the earlier manuscript and substantially clarifies the arguments by adding detailed explanations and additional figures