×

Upper bounds for unitary perfect numbers and unitary harmonic numbers. (English) Zbl 1141.11006

A positive integer \(d\) is said to be a unitary divisor of \(N\) if \(d\mid N\) and \((d, N/d)=1\). The unitary divisor function \(\sigma_j^{\ast}(N)\) is defined as the sum of the \(j\)th powers of the unitary divisors of \(N\). A positive integer \(N\) is said to be a unitary perfect number (UPN) if \(\sigma_1^{\ast}(N)=2N\), see M. V. Subbarao and L. J. Warren [Can. Math. Bull. 9, 147–153 (1966; Zbl 0139.26901)]. Five UPNs are known and it is open whether there exist other UPNs. A positive integer \(N\) is said to be a unitary harmonic number (UHN) if the harmonic mean of its unitary divisors
\[ H^{\ast}(N)={N\sigma_0^{\ast}(N)\over \sigma_1^{\ast}(N)} \]
is integral, see K. Nageswara Rao [Scripta Math. 28, 347–352 (1965; Zbl 0216.03802)] or P. Hagis jun. and G. Lord [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 51, 1–7 (1975; Zbl 0309.10004)]. A large number of examples of UHNs are known. The present author presents the list of all UHNs with \(H^{\ast}(N)\leq 50\). It is open whether there exist infinitely many UHNs.
The main results of this paper are the following. If \(N\) is a UPN (resp. a UHN) with \(k\) distinct prime factors, then \(N<2^{2^k}\) (resp. \(N<(2^{2^k})^k\)).
For a survey of UPNs, UHNs and related numbers, see J. Sándor and B. Crstici [Handbook of number theory II. (Dordrecht): Kluwer Academic Publishers (2004; Zbl 1079.11001)].

MSC:

11A25 Arithmetic functions; related numbers; inversion formulas
11Y70 Values of arithmetic functions; tables
PDF BibTeX XML Cite
Full Text: DOI Euclid

References:

[1] R.P. Brent, G.L. Cohen and H.J.J. te Riele, Improved techniques for lower bounds for odd perfect numbers , Math. Comp. 57 (1991), 857-868. JSTOR: · Zbl 0736.11004
[2] J.E.Z. Chein, An odd perfect number has at least \(8\) prime factors , Ph.D. thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 1979.
[3] G.L. Cohen and R.M. Sorli, Harmonic seeds , Fibonacci Quart. 36 (1998), 386-390; Errata, Fibonacci Quart. 39 (2001), 4. · Zbl 0948.11004
[4] R.J. Cook, Bounds for odd perfect numbers , in Number theory , CRM Proc. Lecture Notes 19 (1999), 67-71. · Zbl 0928.11003
[5] L.E. Dickson, Finiteness of odd perfect and primitive abundant numbers with \(n\) distinct prime factors , Amer. J. Math. 35 (1913), 413-422. JSTOR: · JFM 44.0220.02
[6] T. Goto and S. Shibata, All numbers whose positive divisors have integral harmonic mean up to \(300\) , Math. Comp. 73 (2004), 475-491. · Zbl 1094.11005
[7] P. Hagis, Jr., Outline of a proof that every odd perfect number has at least eight prime factors , Math. Comp. 35 (1980), 1027-1032. JSTOR: · Zbl 0444.10004
[8] P. Hagis, Jr. and G. Lord, Unitary harmonic numbers , Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 51 (1975), 1-7. · Zbl 0309.10004
[9] D.R. Heath-Brown, Odd perfect numbers , Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 115 (1994), 191-196. · Zbl 0805.11005
[10] Pace P. Nielsen, An upper bound for odd perfect numbers , Integers 3 (2003), A14, 9 pp. (electronic). · Zbl 1085.11003
[11] O. Ore, On the averages of the divisors of a number , Amer. Math. Monthly 55 (1948), 615-619. JSTOR: · Zbl 0031.10903
[12] C. Pomerance, On a problem of Ore : Harmonic numbers , Notices Amer. Math. Soc. 20 (1973), A-648.
[13] ——–, Multiply perfect numbers, Mersenne primes, and effective computability , Math. Ann. 226 (1977), 195-206. · Zbl 0324.10001
[14] M.V. Subbarao, Are there an infinity of unitary perfect numbers? Amer. Math. Monthly 77 (1970), 389-390. JSTOR:
[15] M.V. Subbarao and L.J. Warren, Unitary perfect numbers , Canad. Math. Bull. 9 (1966), 147-153. · Zbl 0139.26901
[16] C.R. Wall, The fifth unitary perfect number , Canad. Math. Bull. 18 (1975), 115-122. · Zbl 0312.10004
[17] ——–, New unitary perfect numbers have at least nine odd components , Fibonacci Quart. 26 (1988), 312-317. · Zbl 0657.10003
This reference list is based on information provided by the publisher or from digital mathematics libraries. Its items are heuristically matched to zbMATH identifiers and may contain data conversion errors. It attempts to reflect the references listed in the original paper as accurately as possible without claiming the completeness or perfect precision of the matching.