Does $D_k \mid N_k$ hold at every step of this iterative process involving divisors of odd perfect numbers?

61 Views Asked by At

The topic of odd perfect numbers likely needs no introduction.

In what follows, we let $\sigma(x)$ denote the sum of divisors of the positive integer $x$. Let $$D(x) = 2x - \sigma(x)$$ denote the deficiency of $x$, and let $$s(x) = \sigma(x) - x$$ denote the sum of aliquot/proper divisors of $x$.

Euler proved that a hypothetical odd perfect number must have the form $N = q^k n^2$ where $q$ is the special prime satisfying $q \equiv k \equiv 1 \pmod 4$ and $\gcd(q,n)=1$.

Since $N = q^k n^2$ is (odd) perfect, it follows that $$\sigma(q^k)\sigma(n^2)=\sigma(q^k n^2)=\sigma(N)=2N=2q^k n^2,$$ from which we have $$\gcd(n^2,\sigma(n^2))=\frac{\sigma(n^2)}{q^k}=\frac{2n^2}{\sigma(q^k)}=\frac{D(n^2)}{s(q^k)}=\frac{2s(n^2)}{D(q^k)}$$ since $\gcd(q^k,\sigma(q^k))=1$.

Letting $N_i$ denote the numerators and $D_i$ denote the denominators of the fractions in the equation above, we get $$N_0 = \sigma(n^2), D_0 = q^k$$ $$N_1 = 2n^2, D_1 = \sigma(q^k)$$ $$N_2 = N_1 - N_0 = D(n^2), D_2 = D_1 - D_0 = s(q^k)$$ $$N_3 = N_0 - N_2 = 2s(n^2), D_3 = D_0 - D_2 = D(q^k).$$

Note that, we obtain $$N_4 = N_1 - N_3 = 2D(n^2), D_4 = D_1 - D_3 = 2s(q^k).$$

Here is my question:

In general, if $i \neq j$ are any positive integers (which are both bigger than $1$), then is it guaranteed that $$\frac{N_k}{D_k} = \frac{N_i - N_j}{D_i - D_j}$$ is always an integer, if $N_0$ and $N_1$ are defined as above?

1

There are 1 best solutions below

1
On BEST ANSWER

We can say that $\dfrac{N_i-N_j}{D_i-D_j}\in\mathbb Z$ under the condition that $D_i-D_j\not=0$ instead of $i\not=j$ (see the end of this answer) since we have that if$$\frac BA=\frac DC\in\mathbb Z\quad\text{and}\quad A\not=C$$ then $$\frac{B-D}{A-C}=\frac{B-\frac BAC}{A-C}=\frac{A(B-\frac BAC)}{A(A-C)}=\frac{B(A-C)}{A(A-C)}=\frac BA\in\mathbb Z$$


Note that $D_i=D_j$ can happen even when $i\not=j$.

For example, if we define $D_5,N_5,D_6$ and $N_6$ as $$\begin{align}D_5&:=D_0-D_4,\qquad N_5:=N_0-N_4, \\\\D_6&:=D_3-D_2,\qquad N_6:=N_3-N_2\end{align}$$ then we get $D_5=D_6$, so $\dfrac{N_5-N_6}{D_5-D_6}$ is not defined.