On the denominators of harmonic numbers (Q1701498)

From MaRDI portal
scientific article
Language Label Description Also known as
English
On the denominators of harmonic numbers
scientific article

    Statements

    On the denominators of harmonic numbers (English)
    0 references
    0 references
    0 references
    26 February 2018
    0 references
    For a positive integer \(n\), write the \(n\)-th harmonic number \(H_n=1+\frac12+\frac13+\ldots +\frac1n\) as \(\frac{u_n}{v_n} \) with relatively prime positive integers \(u_n\) and \(v_n\). For a prime number \(p\), define the sets \(J_p=\{n: p\mid u_n\}\) and \(I_p=\{n: p \nmid v_n\}\). It is clear that \(J_p \subseteq I_p\). \textit{A. Eswarathasan} and \textit{E. Levine} [Discrete Math. 91, No. 3, 249--257 (1991; Zbl 0764.11018)] conjectured that for every prime number \(p\), \(J_p\) is finite. \textit{D. W. Boyd} [Exp. Math. 3, No. 4, 287--302 (1994; Zbl 0838.11015)] verified this conjecture up to 547, with three exceptions: \(p=83, 127, 397\). The main result of the paper supports the conjecture: for every positive integer \(m\), the set \(\{n: m\mid v_n \}\) has density one.
    0 references
    harmonic numbers
    0 references
    density one
    0 references
    denominator
    0 references

    Identifiers