English

On the Lagarias Inequality and Superabundant Numbers

Number Theory 2026-02-20 v2

Abstract

We study the Lagarias inequality, an elementary criterion equivalent to the Riemann Hypothesis. Using a continuous extension of the harmonic numbers, we show that the sequence Bn=Hn+eHnlog(Hn)nB_n=\frac{H_n+e^{H_n}\log(H_n)}{n} is strictly increasing for n1n\ge 1. As a consequence, if the Lagarias inequality has counterexamples, then the least counterexample must be a superabundant number; equivalently, it suffices to verify the inequality on the superabundant numbers.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.15905,
  title  = {On the Lagarias Inequality and Superabundant Numbers},
  author = {Andrew MacArevey},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.15905},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

7 pages. v2: Added the use of Corollary 2.1 to Theorem 3.1