Related papers: On covering systems of integers
For integers a and n>0, let a(n) denote the residue class {x\in Z: x=a (mod n)}. Let A be a collection {a_s(n_s)}_{s=1}^k of finitely many residue classes such that A covers all the integers at least m times but {a_s(n_s)}_{s=1}^{k-1} does…
A famous unsolved conjecture of P. Erdos and J. L. Selfridge states that there does not exist a covering system {a_s(mod n_s)}_{s=1}^k with the moduli n_1,...,n_k odd, distinct and greater than one. In this paper we show that if such a…
In 2007, Zhi-Wei Sun defined a \emph{covering number} to be a positive integer $L$ such that there exists a covering system of the integers where the moduli are distinct divisors of $L$ greater than 1. A covering number $L$ is called…
In 1952, H. Davenport posed the problem of determining a condition on the minimum modulus $m_{0}$ in a finite distinct covering system that would imply that the sum of the reciprocals of the moduli in the covering system is bounded away…
We prove that for each fixed $m \ge 2$, there are only finitely many disjoint covering systems with minimum modulus at least $3$ in which precisely one modulus is repeated, namely the largest modulus, and it occurs exactly $m$ times.
A classical problem in the literature seeks the minimal number of proper subgroups whose union is a given finite group. A different question, with applications to error-correcting codes and graph colorings, involves covering vector spaces…
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…
The concept of a covering system was first introduced by Erd\H{o}s in 1950. Since their introduction, a lot of the research regarding covering systems has focused on the existence of covering systems with certain restrictions on the moduli.…
For a set $\cM=\{-\mu,-\mu+1,\ldots, \lambda\}\setminus\{0\}$ with non-negative integers $\lambda,\mu<q$ not both 0, a subset $\cS$ of the residue class ring $\Z_q$ modulo an integer $q\ge 1$ is called a $(\lambda,\mu;q)$-\emph{covering…
Enochs' conjecture asserts that each covering class of modules (over any fixed ring) has to be closed under direct limits. Although various special cases of the conjecture have been verified, the conjecture remains open in its full…
A commutative ring R is said to be coverable if it is the union of its proper subrings and said to be finitely coverable if it is the union of a finite number of them. In the latter case, we denote by {\sigma}(R) the minimal number of…
A cover of an associative (not necessarily commutative nor unital) ring $R$ is a collection of proper subrings of $R$ whose set-theoretic union equals $R$. If such a cover exists, then the covering number $\sigma(R)$ of $R$ is the…
Based on work of P. Balister, B. Bollob\'as, R. Morris, J. Sahasrabudhe and M. Tiba, we show that if a covering system has distinct squarefree moduli, then the minimum modulus is at most 118. We also show that in general the $k^{\rm th}$…
In a research seminar in $2006$, M. Filaseta, O. Trifonov, and G. Yu showed for each integer $n\geq3$ there is no distinct covering with all moduli in the interval $[n, 6n]$. In $2022$, this interval was subsequently improved to $[n, 8n]$…
A covering of a group is a finite set of proper subgroups whose union is the whole group. A covering is minimal if there is no covering of smaller cardinality, and it is nilpotent if all its members are nilpotent subgroups. We complete a…
Let {a_s(mod n_s)}_{s=1}^k (k>1) be a finite system of residue classes with the moduli n_1,...,n_k distinct. By means of algebraic integers we show that the range of the covering function w(x)=|{1\le s\le k: x=a_s (mod n_s)}| is not…
For a semigroup $S$, the covering number of $S$ with respect to semigroups, $\sigma_s(S)$, is the minimum number of proper subsemigroups of $S$ whose union is $S$. This article investigates covering numbers of semigroups and analogously…
The covering number of an associative ring $R$ is the minimal number of proper subrings whose union is $R$. We establish a strategy to classify unital rings of a given finite covering number, and obtain a classification of unital rings…
It is well known that in an exact covering system in $\mathbb{Z}$, the biggest modulus must be repeated. Very recently, Kim gave an analogous result for certain quadratic fields, and Kim also conjectured that it must hold in any algebraic…
There exist irreducible exact covering systems (ECS). These are ECS which are not a proper split of a coarser ECS. However, an ECS admiting a maximal modulus which is divisible by at most two distinct primes, primely splits a coarser ECS.…