In addition to previously posted conjecture
(unfortunately I have not seen any responses yet ;-) )
I came up with OEIS A004664 related conjecture:
n! + n^2 != m^2 for n>=1, m>= 0
I checked using PARI that indeed n! +n^2 doesn't yield perfect square
up to n=30,000
Is this conjecture known (could one on this list point me to the
source
where it is posted/published ?)
If it is indeed known, was it proved then ?
Thanks,
Best Regards,
Alexander R. Povolotsky
Let p be any prime between n and n / 2 (but exceeding n / 2).
Then p^2 divides n^2, p divides n-factorial, p^2 doesn't
divide n-factorial, so p divides left side but p^2 doesn't,
so left side is not a square.
--
Gerry Myerson
n^2! + n! = (n^2.(n^2-1).(n^2-2)....(n+1)+1)n! Just multiplying out.
Consider n^2.(n^2-1).(n^2-2)....(n+1)+1
It cannot have a factor between n+1 and n^2 for if we divide by such a
number we always obtain a remainder of 1. This number must either be
prime or the product of large primes. If crucially we take the numbers
between n+1 and n^2 that are divisible by n we find that every value
is there.
Hence n! and n^2.(n^2-1).(n^2-2)....(n+1)+1 cannot have a common
factor. Hence n! must be a square. If we can say that there is a prime
number between –n and n we know that m^2 cannot exist. For this prime
occurs once and once only in n^2 + n! for it occurs once and once only
in n! A prime >–n cannot be a factor of any number <=n except itself.
If there is always a prime between –n and n your statement is thus
proven. My question is Does prime number theory prove this FOR
CERTAIN? This statement is certainly true. You can see this on the
basis of the statistics of the distribution of primes. I can guarantee
therefore that you will never find
m^2 = n^2! + n!
but it would be nice to have absolute rigor on prime number
distributions.
- Ian Parker
- Ian Parker
It appears that some responders misunderstood my conjecture ...
Let me reiterate my conjecture once more:
The sum
n! + n^2
for n >=1
doesn't yield the perfect square
I also was advised for the additional clarity to present above in the
TEX format as:
$n! + n^2 \ne m^2$
Also any one could check the OEIS's A004664 to see what is involved
there.
Thanks,
Best Regards,
Alexander R. Povolotsky
=========================================================
Yes, but same [extremely classical] proof gives same conclusion --
There is a prime between n and n-squared and so on --
Cheers!
Olivier
I'm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote the above,
but it's nonsense. My apologies.
--
Gerry Myerson
> For prime n, n divides n! just once, but it divides n^2 twice.
> Hence n!+n^2 is divisible by n, but not by n^2 -- so it cannot be a square.
>Tony
Tony Noe also extended the calculations up to n = 10^5
(my original calculation was up to n = 30,000) and found
that my conjecture holds to be TRUE for entire range.
I complement my conjecture, which I originally posted in this thread,
namely: n! + n^2 != m^2 for n>=1, m>= 0
with another conjecture
n! + Sum(j^2, j=1, j=n) != m^2 for n>=1, m>= 0
I checked using PARI program
isSquare(n)={local(a);a=sqrt(1/6*n*(n+1)*(2*n
+1)+n!);if(floor(a)==ceil(a),print1("n="n"\n"))}
for(n=1,30000,isSquare(n))
that indeed
n! + Sum(j^2, j=1, j=n)
doesn't yield perfect square up to n=30,000
Thanks,