14
$\begingroup$

Is the following conjecture true ?

$$\left\{\sum\limits_{\begin{array}{c}k=1\\k\in\mathbb{Z}\end{array}}^nk \ |\ n\in\Bbb Z\right\} \cap \left\lbrace \sum\limits_{\begin{array}{c}k=1\\k\in\mathbb{Z}\setminus\mathbb{P}\end{array}}^nk \ |\ n\in\mathbb{Z}\setminus\mathbb{P}\right\rbrace \cap \left\{\sum\limits_{\begin{array}{c}k=2\\k\in\Bbb P\end{array}}^nk\ |\ n\in\Bbb P\right\}= \{ 28 \}$$

(that is : A000217 $\cap$ A051349 $\cap$ A007504 = { 28 } )

I didn't find any other number below $10^{14}$ with this property (Haskell script here).

I originally posted this question here: math.stackexchange/questions/1357530, with an interesting contribution by joriki in favor of the conjecture:

Unless there's a systematic reason for these sequences to coincide or avoid each other (which I doubt), we can estimate the number of triple coincidences of these three sequences by integrating over the product of their densities. The first one has density $1/n$ at $a_n=n(n+1)/2$, so at $x$ it has density $\sim(2x)^{−1/2}$. The others both omit numbers, so at given $x$ their densities are lower than this.

Thus we can get an upper bound for the "probability" of there being such numbers beyond some $x_0$ from this integral:

$\int_{x_0}^\infty\left(2x\right)^{-3/2}\mathrm dx=(2x_0)^{-1/2}$.

As you've searched up to $10^{14}$, the "probability" of finding a triple coincidence beyond that is less that one in ten million. Unless there's a systematic reason...

$\endgroup$
4
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ If we intersect only the last two of the three sets, we get A154587. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 27, 2016 at 0:36
  • $\begingroup$ I think proving such assertion is likely very hard. -- But I also wouldn't rate your claim as such as particularly interesting. So where does it come from, respectively, why are you interested in this? $\endgroup$
    – Stefan Kohl
    Commented Mar 28, 2016 at 20:02
  • $\begingroup$ I found intriguing that the intersection of these simple related sequences comes down to a single element. This is probably not that useful on a mathematical research point of view, I agree, but fun. In fact, it comes from an old french book on Tarots, the author claimed that 78 was the only number with this property (he thougt that 1 was a prime number) :-) $\endgroup$
    – mmai
    Commented Mar 29, 2016 at 7:40
  • $\begingroup$ A note on A154587 points out that the heuristics for that sequence are $\Theta(\sqrt{\log x})$ values $\lt x$; in other words, the probability that a given value $x$ is in that sequence is $\Theta\left(\frac{\sqrt{\log x}}{x}\right)$. Since the 'probability' that a given number $x$ is triangular is $\Theta(1/\sqrt{x})$, if we assume these probabilities are independent then the probability that any given $x$ is in all three is $\Theta(x^{-3/2}(\log x)^{1/2})$; since the sum of this over all $x$ is finite, the heuristic estimate is that there are only finitely many such $x$. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 26, 2021 at 5:11

0

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .