Related papers: To answer a question of Professor Georges Rhin

We use recent results about linking the number of zeros on algebraic varieties over $\mathbb{C}$, defined by polynomials with integer coefficients, and on their reductions modulo sufficiently large primes to study congruences with products…

We study the extent to which divisors of a typical integer $n$ are concentrated. In particular, defining the Erd\H{o}s-Hooley $\Delta$-function by $\Delta(n) := \max_t \# \{d | n, \log d \in [t,t+1]\}$, we show that $\Delta(n) \geq (\log…

Let $k \in \mathbb{N}$ and suppose we are given $k$ integers $1 \leq a_1, \dots, a_k \leq n$. If $\sqrt{a_1} + \dots + \sqrt{a_k}$ is not an integer, how close can it be to one? When $k=1$, the distance to the nearest integer is $\gtrsim…

A symmetric subset of the reals is one that remains invariant under some reflection x --> c-x. Given 0 < x < 1, there exists a real number D(x) with the following property: if 0 < d < D(x), then every subset of [0,1] with measure x contains…

In this note it is established that, for any finite set $A$ of real numbers, there exist two elements $a,b \in A$ such that $$|(a+A)(b+A)| \gg \frac{|A|^2}{\log |A|}.$$ In particular, it follows that $|(A+A)(A+A)| \gg \frac{|A|^2}{\log…

We first prove that in a sigma-finite von Neumann factor M, a positive element $a$ with properly infinite range projection R_a is a linear combination of projections with positive coefficients if and only if the essential norm ||a||_e with…

We show that if $\lambda_1,\ldots,\lambda_k$ are algebraic numbers, then $$|A+\lambda_1\cdot A+\dots+\lambda_k\cdot A|\geq H(\lambda_1,\ldots,\lambda_k)|A|-o(|A|)$$ for all finite subsets $A$ of $\mathbb{C}$, where…

In this paper, given a simple linear recurrence sequence of algebraic numbers, which has either a dominant characteristic root or exactly two characteristic roots of maximal modulus, we give some explicit lower bounds for the index beyond…

A set $A$ of integers is said to be Schur if any two-colouring of $A$ results in monochromatic $x,y$ and $z$ with $x+y=z$. We study the following problem: how many random integers from $[n]$ need to be added to some $A\subseteq [n]$ to…

A famous conjecture of Erd\H os and Straus is that for every integer $n\ge2$, $4/n$ can be represented as $1/x+1/y+1/z$, where $x,y,z$ are positive integers. This conjecture was generalized to $5/n$ by Sierpi\'nski, and then Schinzel…

In this paper, we prove the following result: {quote} Let $\A$ be an infinite set of positive integers. For all positive integer $n$, let $\tau_n$ denote the smallest element of $\A$ which does not divide $n$. Then we have $$\lim_{N \to +…

The Steinitz lemma, a classic from 1913, states that $a_1,\ldots,a_n$, a sequence of vectors in $\R^d$ with $\sum_1^n a_i=0$, can be rearranged so that every partial sum of the rearranged sequence has norm at most $2d\max \|a_i\|$. In 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…

Let $G$ be an abelian group, let $S$ be a sequence of terms $s_1,s_2,...,s_{n}\in G$ not all contained in a coset of a proper subgroup of $G$, and let $W$ be a sequence of $n$ consecutive integers. Let $$W\odot S=\{w_1s_1+...+w_ns_n:\;w_i…

Let \sigma(n) be the sum of divisors of a positive integer n. Robin's theorem states that the Riemann hypothesis is equivalent to the inequality \sigma(n)<e^\gamma n\log\log n for all n>5040 (\gamma is Euler's constant). It is a natural…

Let $A_1,A_2,...,A_n$ be the vertices of a polygon with unit perimeter, that is $\sum_{i=1}^n |A_i A_{i+1}|=1$. We derive various tight estimates on the minimum and maximum values of the sum of pairwise distances, and respectively sum of…

A subset $\mathcal{A}\subseteq\mathbb{Z}$ is called $s$-almost square universal if every sufficiently large positive integer can be written as a sum of at most $s$ squares of integers from $\mathcal{A}$. In this article, we study the…

We study representations of integers as sums of the form $\pm a_1\pm a_2\pm \dotsb \pm a_n$, where $a_1,a_2,\ldots$ is a prescribed sequence of integers. Such a sequence is called an Erd\H{o}s-Sur\'anyi sequence if every integer can be…

We give a spectral interpretation of the critical zeros of the Riemann zeta function as an absorption spectrum, while eventual noncritical zeros appear as resonances. We give a geometric interpretation of the explicit formulas of number…

Let $\mathcal S=\{s_1<s_2<s_3<\ldots\}$ be the sequence of all natural numbers which can be represented as a sum of two squares of integers. For $X\ge2$ we denote by $g(X)$ the largest gap between consecutive elements of $\mathcal S$ that…