Top: Science: Mathematics: Number Theory: Open Problems


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ABC Conjecture

We define the radical R(n) of an integer n to be the the product of its distinct prime divisors.

ABC Conjecture: For every k>1, there is a constant Ck such that if a,b,c are coprime positive integers satisfying a+b=c, then c < Ck R(abc)k.

The conjecture was proposed by Osterle and Masser in 1985. At present the best that can be proved is that c < exp(R(abc)^f) for a suitable f.
Mason has proved the analogue of the conjecture for polynomials.

If true, the conjecture would have numerous important consequences: among them would be another proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.

We define the ABC ratio for a triple (a,b,c) to be A = log(c) / log(R(abc)). The conjecture implies that A is bounded, so it is of interest to find large values of A.
The current best is: a=2, b=310.109, c=235 giving A = 1.6299


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Collatz Problem

Also known as the 3n+1 problem, Syracuse problem, Thwaites problem.
Define a function on positive integers n -> 3n+1 if n is odd, n/2 is n is even. Does every positive integer eventually end up in the cycle 4 -> 2 -> 1 -> 4?

It is known that there is no other cycle of length less than 275,000 and that all numbers up to 198.250 eventually "converge" to 1.


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Goldbach Conjecture

Every even number except 2 is the sum of two primes, proposed by Christian Goldbach in correspondence with L. Euler in 1742.

The conjecture has been numerically verified up to 2.1016.
Vinogradov proved that every sufficiently large odd number is the sum of three primes, and Chen proved in 1973 that every sufficiently large even number is the sum of a prime and a number with at most two prime factors.



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