On the density of integers of the form \(2^k + p\) in arithmetic progressions (Q2266875)

Consider all the arithmetic progressions of odd numbers, having no term of the form \(2^k+p\) where \(k\) is a positive integer and \(p\) is an odd prime. Erdős asked whether all these progressions can be obtained from covering congruences. In the paper more general problems are solved. The author characterizes all arithmetic progressions in which the proportion of natural numbers that can be expressed in the form \(2^k+p\) is positive. The critical point of the condition for an arithmetic progression \(\{u+mk\}_{k=1}^\infty\) (where \(u\) is an odd integer and \(m\) is a positive even integer) is the existence (or non-existence) of an exponent \(l\) with \(1\leq l\leq e(m)\) such that \(\gcd(u-2^l,m)=1\). Here \(e(m)\) denotes the order of \(2\) modulo \(m'\), where \(m'\) is the largest odd divisor of \(m\). The author's result provides a quantitative version of a theorem of Romanoff on arithmetic progressions. As a corollary, he obtains that the answer to the above question of Erdős is affirmative. As an open problem, the author asks whether there exists any arithmetic progression of odd numbers which is obtained from a congruent covering system, and contains at least one integer of the form \(2^k+p\).