Related papers: Early Record of Divisibility and Primality

This work explores a possible course of evolution of mathematics in ancient times in India when there was no script, no place-value system, and no zero. Reviewing examples of time-reckoning, large numbers, sacrificial altar-making, and…

We consider primitive divisors of terms of integer sequences defined by quadratic polynomials. Apart from some small counterexamples, when a term has a primitive divisor, that primitive divisor is unique. It seems likely that the number of…

We study primitive divisors of terms of the sequence P_n=n^2+b, for a fixed integer b which is not a negative square. It seems likely that the number of terms with a primitive divisor has a natural density. This seems to be a difficult…

In this article, we try to explain and unify standard divisibility tests found in various books. We then look at recurring decimals, and list a few of their properties. We show how to compute the number of digits in the recurring part of…

We consider the primes which divide the denominator of the x-coordinate of a sequence of rational points on an elliptic curve. It is expected that for every sufficiently large value of the index, each term should be divisible by a primitive…

We believe we have made progress in the age-old problem of divisibility rules for integers. Universal divisibility rule is introduced for any divisor in any base number system. The divisibility criterion is written down explicitly as a…

This 1964 paper developed as an off-shoot to the foundational query: Do we discover the natural numbers (Platonically), or do we construct them linguistically? The paper also assumes computational significance in the light of Agrawal, Kayal…

Let $\omega^*(n)$ denote the number of divisors of $n$ that are shifted primes, that is, the number of divisors of $n$ of the form $p-1$, with $p$ prime. Studied by Prachar in an influential paper from 70 years ago, the higher moments of…

The number of tuples with positive integers pairwise relatively prime to each other with product at most $n$ is considered. A generalization of $\mu^{2}$ where $\mu$ is the M\"{o}bius function is used to formulate this divisor sum and…

Let $A, B \subseteq \mathbb{N}$ be two finite sets of natural numbers. We say that $B$ is an additive divisor for $A$ if there exists some $C \subseteq \mathbb{N}$ with $A = B+C$. We prove that among those subsets of $\{0, 1, \ldots, k\}$…

When people mention the number theoretical achievements in Ancient China, the famous Chinese Remainder Theorem always springs to mind. But, two more of them--the concept of primes and the algorithm for counting the greatest common divisor,…

We propose a divisibility test for all integers which have 1, 3, 7 or 9 in their unit's place. In particular, then, the test applies for all prime divisors except 2 and 5.

We study the existence of primes and of primitive divisors in classical divisibility sequences defined over function fields. Under various hypotheses, we prove that Lucas sequences and elliptic divisibility sequences over function fields…

This paper investigates the randomness properties of a function of the divisor pairs of a natural number. This function, the antecedents of which go to very ancient times, has randomness properties that can find applications in…

Let F(z) be a rational function in Q(z) of degree at least 2 with F(0) = 0 and such that F does not vanish to order d at 0. Let b be a rational number having infinite orbit under iteration of F, and write F^n(b) = A_n/B_n as a fraction in…

A positive integer n is called a covering number if there are some distinct divisors n_1,...,n_k of n greater than one and some integers a_1,...,a_k such that Z is the union of the residue classes a_1(mod n_1),...,a_k(mod n_k). A covering…

We introduce \emph{patterned numbers}, a digit--divisor-based classification of integers motivated by recreational mathematics. A number is defined to be patterned if at least one of its positive divisors appears as a digit in its base-10…

It is known that all terms $U_n$ of a classical regular Lucas sequence have a primitive prime divisor if $n>30$. In addition, a complete description of all regular Lucas sequences and their terms $U_n$, $2\leq n\leq 30$, which do not have a…

A primitive prime divisor of an element a_n of a sequence (a_1,a_2,a_3,...) is a prime P that divides a_n, but does not divide a_m for all m < n. The Zsigmondy set Z of the sequence is the set of n such that a_n has no primitive prime…

The divisor function $\sigma(n)$ sums the divisors of $n$. We call $n$ abundant when $\sigma(n) - n > n$ and perfect when $\sigma(n) - n = n$. I recently introduced the recursive divisor function $a(n)$, the recursive analog of the divisor…