On the multiplicative representation of integers (Q2524095)

Let \(b_1 < b_2 < \cdots\) be an infinite sequence of integers and \(g(n)\) the number of solutions of \(n = b_ib_j\). It is shown that if \(g(n) > 0\) for all \(n > n_0\) then \(\limsup_{n \to \infty} g(n) = \infty\). A proof of the following result is outlined. Denote by \(u_l(n)\) the smallest integer so that if \(b_1 < \cdots < b_t \leq n\), \(t \leq u_l(n)\) is any sequence of integers then forsome \(m\), \(g(m) \geq l\). If \(2^{k-1}<l \leq 2^k\) then \[ u_l(n) = (1+o(1))n(\log\log n)^{k-1}/(k-1)!\log n. \] \{There are numerous minor misprints including the denominator in (6) which should be read as \(N_r^{1/2^{r-1}}\).\}