Related papers: Denominators of Bernoulli polynomials

We estimate character sums with n!, on average, and individually. These bounds are used to derive new results about various congruences modulo a prime p and obtain new information about the spacings between quadratic nonresidues modulo p.…

The probability of finding a prime multiplet, i.e., a sequence of primes $p$ and $p+a_i$, $i=1... m$, being all primes where $p$ is some prime less than the integer $n$ is naively $1/log(n)^{m+1}$. It is shown that, in reality, it is…

Let $\ell$ be any fixed prime number. We define the $\ell$-Genocchi numbers by $G_n:=\ell(1-\ell^n)B_n$, with $B_n$ the $n$-th Bernoulli number. They are integers. We introduce and study a variant of Kummer's notion of regularity of primes.…

Let a and b be non-zero rational numbers that are multiplicatively independent. We study the natural density of the set of primes p for which the subgroup of the multiplicative group of the finite field with p elements generated by (a\mod…

For $x>0$ let $\pi(x)$ denote the number of primes not exceeding $x$. For integers $a$ and $m>0$, we determine when there is an integer $n>1$ with $\pi(n)=(n+a)/m$. In particular, we show that for any integers $m>2$ and $a\le\lceil…

We consider almost-primes of the form $f(p)$ where $f$ is an irreducible polynomial over $\mathbb Z$ and $p$ runs over primes. We improve a result of Richert for polynomials of degree at least $3$. In particular we show that, when the…

Let $g(n)$ be the largest positive integer $k$ such that there are distinct primes $p_i$ for $1\leq i\leq k$ so that $p_i |n+i$. This function is related to a celebrated conjecture of C.A. Grimm. We establish upper and lower bounds for…

We prove an asymptotic formula for the number of integers $\leq x$ which can be written as the product of $k ~(\geq 2)$ distinct primes $p_1\cdots p_k$ with each prime factor in an arithmetic progression $p_j\equiv a_j \bmod q$, $(a_j,…

Let $m$ and $n>0$ be integers. Suppose that $p$ is a prime dividing $m-4$ but not dividing $m$. We show that $\nu_p(\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}\frac{\binom{2k}k}{m^k})$ and $\nu_p(\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}\binom{n-1}{k}(-1)^k\frac{\binom{2k}k}{m^k})$ are at…

Zaremba's conjecture (1971) states that every positive integer number $d$ can be represented as a denominator (continuant) of a finite continued fraction $\frac{b}{d}=[d_1,d_2,\ldots,d_{k}],$ with all partial quotients…

One of the greatest difficulties encountered by all in their first proof intensive class is subtly assuming an unproven fact in a proof. The purpose of this note is to describe a specific instance where this can occur, namely in results…

The author shows that there are infinitely many primes $p$ such that for any nonzero integer $a$, $p-a$ is divisible by a square $d^2 > p^{\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{700}}$. The exponent $\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{700}$ improves Merikoski's…

Let p be a prime, and let n>0 and r be integers. In 1913 Fleck showed that $$F_p(n,r)=(-p)^{-[(n-1)/(p-1)]}\sum_{k=r(mod p)}\binom{n}{k}(-1)^k\in\Z.$$ Nowadays this result plays important roles in many aspects. Recently Sun and Wan…

We identify pairs of positive integers $(t, d)$ with the property that the integer sequence with general term $\lfloor{n^t/d\rfloor}$ contains at most finitely many primes.

We show that the greatest prime factor of $n^2+h$ is at least $n^{1.312}$ infinitely often. This gives an unconditional proof for the range previously known under the Selberg eigenvalue conjecture. Furthermore, we get uniformity in $h \leq…

Let $n \in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 2}$. By $P(n)$ we denote the set of all prime divisors of the integers in the sequence $n, n^2-1, (n^2-1)^2-1, \dots$. We ask whether the set $P(n)$ determines $n$ uniquely under the assumption that $n \neq…

Let $k \ge 2$ and $s$ be positive integers, and let $n$ be a large positive integer subject to certain local conditions. We prove that if $s \ge k^2+k+1$ and $\theta > 31/40$, then $n$ can be expressed as a sum $p_1^k + \dots + p_s^k$,…

We prove an explicit analogue of Legendre's conjecture for almost primes. Namely, for every integer $n \geq 1$, the interval $(n^2,(n+1)^2)$ contains an integer having at most $3$ prime factors, counted with multiplicity. This improves the…

Motivated by a question of Venkataramana, we consider the greatest common divisor of $\phi(f(n))$ where $f$ is a primitive polynomial with integer coefficients, and $n$ ranges over all natural numbers. Assuming Schinzel's hypothesis, we…

The polynomials $d_n(x)$ are defined by \begin{align*} d_n(x) &= \sum_{k=0}^n{n\choose k}{x\choose k}2^k. \end{align*} We prove that, for any prime $p$, the following congruences hold modulo $p$: \begin{align*}…