English

The Davenport constant of an interval: a proof that $\mathsf{D}=\chi$

Number Theory 2026-01-14 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

For two positive integers mm and MM, we study the Davenport constant of the interval of integers [ ⁣[m,M] ⁣][\![ -m,M ]\!], that is the maximal length of a minimal zero-sum sequence composed of elements from [ ⁣[m,M] ⁣][\![ -m,M ]\!]. We prove the conjecture that it is equal to m+Mrm+M- r where rr is the smallest integer which can be decomposed as a sum of two non-negative integers t1t_1 and t2t_2 (r=t1+t2r=t_1+t_2) having the property that gcd(Mt1,mt2)=1\gcd (M-t_1, m-t_2)=1.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.07950,
  title  = {The Davenport constant of an interval: a proof that $\mathsf{D}=\chi$},
  author = {Benjamin Girard and Alain Plagne},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.07950},
  year   = {2026}
}

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33 pages