No label defined (Q4249692)

It is not known whether or not odd perfect numbers can exist. \textit{D. R. Heath-Brown} [Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 115, 191--196 (1994; Zbl 0805.11005)] proved that if \(N\) is an odd perfect number with at most \(k\) prime factors, then \(N \leq 4^{4^k}\). The argument is derived from a result on the upper bound for a product of integers satisfying certain conditions. The author investigates relevant conditions under which the product is likely to be maximised, thereby finding an interesting improvement related to the bound. This gives a slight improvement on the result concerning~\(N\), namely that \(N \leq D^{4^k}\), where \(D=195^{1/7}=2.123{\ldots} \). The argument also shows that if 195 does not divide~\(N\) then the value for~\(D\) may be replaced by \(2^{16/15}=2.094{\ldots} \). For the entire collection see [Zbl 0910.00037].