Related papers: Solving the Odd Perfect Number Problem: Some Old a…

A perfect cuboid (PC) is a rectangular parallelepiped with rational sides $a,b,c$ whose face diagonals $d_{ab}$, $d_{bc}$, $d_{ac}$ and space (body) diagonal $d_s$ are rationals. The existence or otherwise of PC is a problem known since at…

This paper investigates the dynamics of the iterated sum-of-divisors function $\sigma_k(m)$ and its behaviour modulo $m$, motivated by classical questions on perfect and multiperfect numbers and by the congruences $\sigma_k(m) \equiv 0…

Let $\sigma(n)$ denote the sum of the positive divisors of $n$. We prove that for any positive integer $k$, there is a number $m$ for which the equation $\sigma(x)=m$ has exactly $k$ solutions, settling a conjecture of Sierpi\'nski from…

We study some divisibility properties of multiperfect numbers. Our main result is: if $N=p_1^{\alpha_1}... p_s^{\alpha_s} q_1^{2\beta_1}... q_t^{2\beta_t}$ with $\beta_1, ..., \beta_t$ in some finite set S satisfies…

Let $N$ be an odd perfect number. Then, Euler proved that there exist some integers $n, \alpha$ and a prime $q$ such that $N = n^{2}q^{\alpha}$, $q \nmid n$, and $q \equiv \alpha \equiv 1 \bmod 4$. In this note, we prove that the ratio…

We show that $n$ is almost perfect if and only if $I(n) - 1 < D(n) \leq I(n)$, where $I(n)$ is the abundancy index of $n$ and $D(n)$ is the deficiency of $n$. This criterion is then extended to the case of integers $m$ satisfying $D(m)>1$.

The multiplicative structure of an odd perfect number $n$, if any, is $n=\pi^\alpha M^2$, where $\pi$ is prime, $\gcd(\pi,M)=1$ and $\pi\equiv \alpha\equiv1\pmod{4}$. An additive structure of $n$, established by Touchard, is that…

We prove a conjecture that classifies exceptional numbers. This conjecture arises in two different ways, from cryptography and from coding theory. An odd integer $t\geq 3$ is said to be exceptional if $f(x)=x^t$ is APN (Almost Perfect…

This paper is concerned with the problem of finding two sets of integers, $\{a_1, a_2, \ldots$, $a_m\}$ and $\{b_1, b_2, \ldots, b_n\}$, such that all the $mn$ sums $a_i+b_j, i=1, \ldots, m, j=1, \ldots, n$, are perfect squares. A method is…

We say a natural number~$n$ is abundant if $\sigma(n)>2n$, where $\sigma(n)$ denotes the sum of the divisors of~$n$. The aliquot parts of~$n$ are those divisors less than~$n$, and we say that an abundant number~$n$ is pseudoperfect if there…

We investigate the integer solutions of Diophantine equations related to perfect numbers. These solutions generalize the example, found by Descartes in 1638, of an odd, ``spoof'' perfect factorization $3^2\cdot 7^2\cdot 11^2\cdot 13^2\cdot…

We shall given a new effectively computable upper bound of odd perfect numbers whose Euler factors are powers of fixed exponent, improving our old result in T. Yamada, Colloq. Math. 103 (2005), 303--307.

A positive integer $n$ is said to be a Zumkeller number or an integer-perfect number if the set of its positive divisors can be partitioned into two subsets of equal sums. In this paper, we prove several results regarding Zumkeller numbers.…

Let $k>2$ be a prime such that $2^k-1$ is a Mersenne prime. Let $n = 2^{\alpha-1}p$, where $\alpha>1$ and $p<3\cdot 2^{\alpha-1}-1$ is an odd prime. Continuing the work of Cai et al. and Jiang, we prove that $n\ |\ \sigma_k(n)$ if and only…

For each integer $x$, the $x$-th generalized pentagonal number is denoted by $P_5(x)=(3x^2-x)/2$. Given odd positive integers $a,b,c$ and non-negative integers $r,s$, we employ the theory of ternary quadratic forms to determine when the sum…

Inspired by Cohen and te Riele~\cite{Cohen1996}, who computationally verified that for every $n \leq 400$ there exists $k$ such that $\sigma^k(n) \equiv 0 \pmod{n}$ (where $\sigma^k$ denotes the $k$-fold iteration of the sum-of-divisors…

In a graph, a perfect matching cut is an edge cut that is a perfect matching. Perfect Matching Cut (PMC) is the problem of deciding whether a given graph has a perfect matching cut, and is known to be NP-complete. We revisit the problem and…

For a positive integer $k$, let \[ \sigma_k(n)=\sum_{d\mid n} d^k \] be the divisor function of order $k$, and let $\nu_p(m)$ denote the $p$-adic valuation of an integer $m$. Motivated by recent work on the $p$-adic valuation of…

Let $I_k = [(2k-1)^2, (2k+1)^2)$ for $k \geq 1$. Starting from the odd-composite matrix $(b_{ij})$ with $b_{ij} = (2i-1)(2j-1)$, introduced by the author in [1], we define for each odd integer $n$ the \emph{matrix multiplicity} $r(n)$, the…

The starting point of this work is an equality between two quantities $A$ and $B$ found in the literature, which involve the {\em doubling-modulo-an-odd-integer} map, i.e., $x\in {\mathbb N} \mapsto 2x \bmod{(2n+1)}$ for some positive…