Fermat's little theorem, Poulet numbers, Carmichael numbers, and primes

225 Views Asked by At

Fermat's primality test for base 2 permits Poulet numbers to pass the test, as follows: $(2^x - 2)/x$. Fermat's primality test in different bases will act as a sieve for eliminating most pseudo primes from passing the test, unless the numbers are Carmichael numbers.

I ran an experiment for the following formula $(5^x - 3^x - 2^x)/x$ and it seems to eliminate all but Carmichael numbers, without having to check different bases.

I was capable of running the experiment until 10000 only (due to my lack of computing calculation power).

Does anyone know about this formula and whether it still holds forever?

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On

The answer to this question was answered here (inspired by the comments above): https://mathoverflow.net/questions/369430/fermats-little-theorem-poulet-numbers-carmichael-numbers-and-primes Yes the formula is known and yes there are smaller numbers than 25326001.