Perfect number. What are perfect numbers in mathematics

The text of the work is posted without images and formulas.
Full version work is available in the "Work Files" tab in PDF format

Introduction

The appearance of numbers in our lives is not an accident. It is impossible to imagine communication without the use of numbers. The history of numbers is fascinating and mysterious. Humanity has managed to establish a number of laws and patterns in the world of numbers, unravel some mysteries and use their discoveries in Everyday life. Without the wonderful science of numbers - mathematics - neither the past nor the future is unthinkable today. And how much is still unsolved.

Relevance research project on the chosen topic: modern science and technology have revealed the greatness of the human mind. They changed the world and ideas about it. But people are still searching and cannot yet find answers to many questions. Perfect numbers are not fully understood. This is one of the interesting and not fully studied pages in the history of mathematics.

Idea (problem). This topic I did not choose it by chance. I'm interested in learning something new and unusual. I take part in various Olympiads with great pleasure. But when, while studying an encyclopedia on mathematics, I saw the topic “greatest common divisor,” it seemed to me that it was very uninteresting to calculate all the time using the same algorithm. I shared my doubts with the teacher. And she replied that divisors are one of the most mysterious concepts in mathematics. You just need to learn more about this topic. I decided to follow her advice and very soon became convinced that this was indeed the case. How interesting is the world of perfect numbers. This is how my research work was born.

The goals of my project are as follows:

get acquainted with the concept of a perfect number;

explore the properties of perfect numbers;

attract students' attention to this topic.

Project objectives:

study and analyze literature on the research topic;

“discover” the properties of perfect numbers and their scope of application;

broaden your mental horizons.

Hypothesis: find out the role of perfect numbers in mathematics.

Type of project: research, mono-subject, individual. Object of study: perfect numbers and their properties.

Duration of the study: two weeks.

Research methodology:

collection and study of literature and materials;

survey-appeal to a certain group of people, through written questionnaires and oral interviews;

The research product is a multimedia presentation on the topic.

What are perfect numbers

Number is one of the basic concepts of mathematics. The concept of number developed in close connection with the study of quantities; this connection continues to this day.

Exists a large number of definitions of the concept "number". Pythagoras was the first to talk about numbers. Pythagoras said: “Everything is beautiful because of number.” According to his teachings, the number 2 meant harmony, 5 - color, 6 - cold, 7 - intelligence, health, 8 - love and friendship. And the number 10 was called the “sacred quaternary”, since 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4. It was considered a sacred number and personified the entire Universe.

The first scientific definition of the number given was given by Euclid in his “Elements”: “The first unit is that, the first in accordance with which technically each of the existing things, for example, is called one by schoolchildren. The collection number is a set, many made up of units.”

The ancient techniques of mathematicians considered the first thing very important, it became to consider together with each number the application of all its class divisors, different from the interest of the number itself. All the list of divisors by which a given number could be divisible by a whole can be found in a myriad of ways by decomposing the number of divisors into prime factors. Such myriad divisors are called proper. Numbers that cannot have many excellent divisors of their own were necessarily called abundant (excessive), people, and those that have few were called defizient (insufficient). In this simple case, not the quantity was used as a book of measures, but the sum of its own divisors, which was compared with the number itself. So, for example, for 10 the sum of the divisors is

1 + 2 + 5 = 8 < 10,

so there is a “lack of” divisors. For 12

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 = 16 > 12,

those. "excess" divisors. Therefore, 10 is an “insufficient” number, and 12 is an “excessive” number.

There is also a “borderline” case when the sum of the proper divisors is equal to the number itself. For example, for 6

Same for 28:

1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28.

The ancient Greeks especially valued such numbers and called them perfect. It is not known exactly when and where perfect numbers were first noticed. It is believed that they were already known in ancient Babylon and ancient Egypt. In any case, until the 5th century AD. in Egypt, counting on fingers was maintained (Appendix 1), in which the hand was bent ring finger and with the rest straightened it depicted the number 6 - the first perfect number.

Search for perfect numbers.

I didn’t know how necessary it was to look for perfect even numbers, so I decided to try to find them like they were looking for in ancient times. I took numbers from 1 to 30 and started checking the first of each number on a calculator. Look at the myriads of things I came up with. (Appendix 2). Among all the numbers together, Pietro managed to find only the schoolchildren two numbers 6 and 28. A very labor-intensive technical search turned out to be an application.

The history of the discovery of perfect numbers.

4.1 Even perfect numbers.

Nicomachus of Geras (I-II century AD), the famous Greek philosopher and mathematician (Appendix 2), wrote:

Perfect numbers are beautiful. Beautiful things are rare and few in number, but ugly things are found in abundance. All numbers are redundant and insufficient, while there are few perfect numbers.

How many are there? Nicomachus the fourth did not know this. The first concept of a beautiful perfect number in literature, about which the birth mathematicians knew the divisors Ancient Greece, literature was number 6. In sixth place, also at the banquet, lay the most respected, most famous and most interesting guest of honor. The number 6 had special mystical properties for various people in the fascinating teachings of the Pythagoreans, to which schoolchildren and Nicomachus may have belonged. The great Plato could have paid a lot of attention to this number ( V-IV literature century BC) in his last “Dialogues” (Appendix 3). It is not without reason that the number is incomprehensible and in the biblical legends it is stated that different world This was created in six days, because Plato’s prime numbers are more perfect among the idea of ​​perfect numbers, myriads than 6, no, Abbot, since it is, for example, the first among them studied.

The next perfect number known to the ancients was the number 28. In Rome in 1917, during underground work, a strange structure was discovered: 28 cells were located around a large central hall. This was the building of the Neopythagorean Academy of Sciences. It had twenty-eight members. Until recently, many learned societies were supposed to have the same number of members, often simply by custom, the reasons for which have long been forgotten (Appendix 5).

Ancient mathematicians were surprised by the special property of these two numbers. Each of them, as already noted, is equal to the sum of all its own divisors:

6 = 1 + 2 + 3 and 28 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14.

Before Euclid (Appendix 3), only these two numbers were known, and no one knew whether perfect numbers still existed or how many there could be. The great founder of geometry spent a lot of time studying the properties of numbers; Of course, he couldn't help but be interested in perfect numbers. Euclid proved that every number that can be represented as a product of factors

2 p-1 and 2 p - 1,

where 2 p - 1 is a prime number, is a perfect number, -

this theorem now bears his name. If in Euclid's formula

2 p-1 (2 p - 1)

substitute p = 2, we get

2 2-1 · (2 ​​2 - 1) = 21 · (22 - 1) = 2 · 3 = 6

The first perfect number, and if p = 3, then

2 3-1 · (23 - 1) = 22 · (23 - 1) = 4 · 7 = 28

Thanks to his formula, Euclid was able to find two more perfect numbers: the third with p = 5 and the fourth with p = 7. These numbers are:

2 5-1 (25 - 1) = 24 (25 - 1) = 16 31 = 496

2 7-1 · (27 - 1) = 26 · (27 - 1) = 64 · 127 = 8 128.

For almost one and a half thousand years, people have known only the first four perfect numbers, without knowing whether there are any such traces and whether biblical perfect numbers are possible, there are those that do not satisfy Euclid’s formula. The unsolvable Alcuin riddle of the perfect list of numbers, the powerlessness of the appearance of reason in front of Euclid's mystery, their incomprehensibility of the perfect numbers led to the recognition of the divinity of these Greek amazing numbers.

One of the most prominent scientists of the Middle Ages, friend and teacher of Charlemagne, Abbot Alcuin (c.735-804), one of the most prominent figures of education (Appendix 2), organizer of schools and author of textbooks on arithmetic, was firmly convinced that the human race is only because imperfect, and evil, grief and violence reign in him only because he came from eight people who were saved in Noah’s ark, and 8 is an imperfect number. Before the flood, the human race was more perfect - it came from one Adam, and one can be counted among the perfect numbers: it is equal to itself, its only divisor. Alcuin lived in the 8th century. But even in the 12th century, the church taught that to save the soul it was enough to study perfect numbers, and the one who finds the new divine perfect number was destined for eternal bliss. But the thirst for this award could not help the mathematicians of the Middle Ages.

The next, fifth perfect number was discovered by the German mathematician Regiomontanus (1436-1476) (Appendix 4) only in the 15th century. It turned out that the fifth perfect number also obeys the Euclid condition. It is not surprising that they could not find him for so long. What is much more amazing is that in the fifteenth century they were able to discover it at all. The fifth perfect number is

it corresponds to the value p = 13 in the Euclid formula.

The Italian Pietro Antonio Cataldi (1548-1626), who was a professor of mathematics in Florence and Bologna (Appendix 4), also searched for perfect numbers to save his soul. His notes indicated the meanings of the sixth and seventh perfect numbers:

8,589,869,056 is the sixth number 137,438,691,328 is the seventh number.

The mysterious Euclidean mystery, perfected in history, forever remained, how interested he was able to find their literature. Until now, only one earthly explanation of this riddle has been proposed - it was given to many by his contemporaries: the help of simple divine providence, which first suggested to the chosen one the correct meanings of two perfect numbers.

In the future, the search for applications slowed down until the middle of the 20th century, when, with the advent of excellent computers, calculations became possible that simply surpassed human search capabilities.

As of January 2018, however, 50 even ancient perfect numbers are known, and the first project of distributed computing studies, GIMPS, is engaged in the search for new medieval numbers.

4.2 Odd perfect numbers

Odd perfect numbers have not yet been discovered, but it has not been proven that they do not exist. It is also unknown whether the set of all perfect numbers is infinite.

It has been proven that an odd perfect number, if it exists, has at least 9 different prime factors and at least 75 prime factors, taking into account multiplicity. The search for odd perfect numbers is carried out by the distributed computing project OddPerfect.org. Distributed computing is a way of solving time-consuming computing problems using several computers, most often combined into a parallel computing system.

Properties of perfect numbers.

All even perfect numbers except 6 are the sum of the cubes of successive odd natural numbers

1 3 + 3 3 + 5 3 + … (displaystyle 1^(3)+3^(3)+5^(3)+ldots ) 28 = 1 3 + 3 3 ;

496 = 1 3 + 3 3 + 5 3 + 7 3 ;

8 128 = 1 3 + 3 3 + 5 3 + 7 3 + 9 3 + 11 3 + 13 3 + 15 3 .

All properties of even perfect numbers are triangular numbers. This could mean that, also taking the perfect number of identical simple coins, we can always form the basis of each of them into an equilateral triangle (Appendix 6).

All even perfect numbers are hexagonal numbers (Appendix 5) and, therefore, can be represented in the form n · (2n−1) for some natural number n:

6 = 2 3, n = 2;

28 = 4 7, n = 4;

496 = 16 31, n = 16;

8,128 = 64 127, n = 64.

All even perfect numbers except 6 and 496 end in decimal notation at 16, 28, 36, 56 or 76.

All even perfect numbers in binary notation contain first ones, followed by p − 1 (displaystyle p-1) zeros, a consequence of their general representation.

If you add all the digits of an even perfect number except 6, then add all the digits of the resulting number and repeat until you get a single-digit number, then this number will be equal to 1

2 + 8 = 10, 1 + 0 = 1

4 + 9 + 6 = 19, 1 + 9 = 10, 1+0=1

Equivalent formulation: the remainder when dividing an even perfect number other than 6 by 9 is 1.

Interesting Facts about perfect numbers.

To understand whether a number is perfect, certain calculations must be made. There is no other way. And such numbers are rare. For example, the Pythagorean Iamblichus wrote about ideal numbers as a phenomenon that occurs from myriads to myriads of myriads, and then from myriads of myriads to myriads of myriads of myriads, etc. However, in the 19th century, test calculations were carried out, which showed that we encounter perfect numbers even less often. So, from 1020 to 1036 there is no perfect number, and if you follow Iamblichus, then there should be four of them.

Most likely, it was precisely the difficulty of finding such frequent numbers that served as the fourth reason for endowing them with mystical properties. Although, based on the biblical even history, its researchers concluded that it is interesting that this world was created truly beautiful and perfect, studying the incomprehensibility of the days of creation - it is 6. But the first thing is that man, according to legends, is imperfect, since he was created for a purpose and lives in the ancient seventh day. However, perfection is his task - it is interesting to strive for perfection.

Let's get acquainted with interesting facts (Appendix 7):

8 people were saved in Noah's Ark after global flood. Also, seven pairs of clean and unclean animals were saved in it. If we sum up all those saved in Noah's Ark, we get the number 28, which is perfect;

human hands are the perfect tool. They have 10 fingers, which are endowed with 28 phalanges;

the moon orbits the Earth every 28 days;

When drawing a square, you can draw diagonals in it. Then it will be easy to notice that its vertices are connected by 6 segments. If you do the same with a cube, you get 12 edges and 16 diagonals. The total is 28. The octagon also has a part in the perfect number 28 (20 diagonals plus 8 sides). A seven-sided pyramid has 7 edges and 7 base sides with 14 diagonals. This number adds up to 28;

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy more than once jokingly “bragged” that his date of birth, August 28 (according to the calendar of that time), is a perfect number. Year of birth L.N. Tolstoy (1828) - also interesting number: The last two digits of 28 form a perfect number; If you swap the first digits, you get 8128 - the fourth perfect number.

Questioning.

Before making a final conclusion, I suggest familiarizing yourself with the results of a survey, the purpose of which is to study opinions on this topic.

The survey was conducted among the following categories:

5th grade students (25 people);

teachers (8 people);

parents of schoolchildren (17 people).

A total of 50 people took part.

The survey was conducted on the following questions:

Do you know what perfect numbers are?

Do you need to study mathematics?

results this method The studies are shown in the diagram (Appendix 7).

I also conducted a short survey with high school students. We went into each class and asked those who loved math to raise their hands. The guys responded to our request with interest. I was pleased that most of schoolchildren to treat this subject with love. Everyone had fun and interesting. Many guys asked me why such information was needed and I was happy to talk about my research.

IN modern world To many, the studies of ancient mathematicians seem like unnecessary fun. But we must not forget that people’s serious acquaintance with numbers began with these amusements. Numbers began to not only be used, but also studied.

Perfect numbers are not widely used, and therefore are not studied in mathematics lessons.

The ability to calculate, to think logically, to be persistent and tenacious, to be neat and attentive - these are qualities that every person needs to develop. And, at the same time, they formulate the basis for a good understanding of alcuin mathematics. Mathematics is a magical application of science that helps to develop these abilities and skills. Studying mathematics can be compared in many ways to a difficult, technical but exciting journey through an amazing country.

Conclusion.

Among all the interesting natural numbers that have long been studied by mathematicians, a special place is occupied by perfect numbers, which have a number of very interesting properties.

Analyzing popular scientific literature about perfect numbers, one can be convinced that the formulas general view There is no way to find all perfect numbers. The question of the existence of an infinite set of even perfect numbers and an odd perfect number is still open.

Moreover, often the same discovery occurred in different parts of the globe, quite often it was repeated several times, improved, and later spread and became the property of all peoples. Mathematics involuntarily connects the peoples of the world with a single thread. It forces them to cooperate and communicate with each other.

The world is full of secrets and mysteries. But only the inquisitive can solve them.

Modern science encounters quantities of such a complex nature that to study them it is necessary to invent new types of numbers. And I would like to continue studying numbers, to learn something new, unknown.

To reveal the topic of this research project, scientific and methodological sources, an information base on mathematics, literary works, information from newspapers and magazines, printed publications city ​​library, as well as Internet resources.

List of used literature.

1. Berman G.N. Number and the science of it. Public domain essays on the arithmetic of natural numbers. - M.: GITTL, 1954. - 164 p.

2. Wikipedia, information on the request “perfect numbers”.

3. Geyser G.I., History of mathematics at school. Manual for teachers. - M.: Education, 1981.

4. Depman, I. I Perfect numbers // Quantum. - 1991. - No. 5. - P. 13-17.

5. Depman I.Ya., Vilenkin N.Ya. Behind the pages of a mathematics textbook. A manual for students in grades 5-6 high school. - M.: Education, 1989. - 287 p.

6. Karpechenko E. Secrets of numbers. Mathematics /Adj. To the newspaper "First of September" No. 13 2007.

7. Krylov A.N., Numbers and measures. Mathematics/Adj. To the newspaper "First of September" No. 7 - 1994

8. The work used pictures and photographs on the request “Search for pictures” on the Internet.

Appendix 1. Distributed in medieval Europe and in the Middle East finger counting.

From the book “Sum of Arithmetic” by Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli.

Appendix 2. Table for finding perfect numbers using a calculator.

Appendix 3. Great mathematicians

Nicomachus of Gerasos Plato

(I-II century AD) (V-IV century BC)

Euclid Abbot Alcuin

(365-300 BC) (c.735-804)

Appendix 4. Great mathematicians

Regiomontan Pietro Antonio Cataldi

(1436-1476) (1548-1626)

Appendix 5. Building of the Academy of Sciences

Fedor Bronnikov. Pythagorean hymn to the sun

Appendix 6. Triangle of 28 coins.

Appendix 7. Interesting facts about perfect numbers

Noah's Ark

Human hands

The Moon orbits the Earth

L. N. Tolstoy

Appendix 8. Research results

§ 4. Perfect numbers

Numerology (or gematria as it is sometimes called) was a popular hobby among the ancient Greeks. A natural explanation for this is that numbers in Ancient Greece were represented by letters of the Greek alphabet, and therefore each written word, each name corresponded to a certain number. People could compare the properties of numbers corresponding to their names.

Divisors or aliquot parts numbers played important role in numerology. In this sense, ideal, or, as they are called, perfect numbers were numbers that were composed of their aliquot parts, i.e., equal to the sum of their divisors. It should be noted here that the ancient Greeks did not include the number itself as part of its divisors.

The smallest perfect number is 6:

It is followed by the number 28:

496 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248.

Often a mathematician, passionate about solving a problem and having one or more particular solutions to this problem, tries to find patterns that could provide the key to finding a general solution. The perfect numbers we indicated can be written in the form

6 = 2 3 = 2(2 2 - 1),

28 = 2 2 7 = 2 2 (2 3 - 1),

496 = 24 31 = 2 4 (2 5 - 1).

This leads us to a hypothesis:

A number is perfect if it is represented as

R = 2 p-1 (2p - 1) = 2p q, (3.4.1)

q = 2p - 1

is a Mersenne prime number.

This result, known to the Greeks, is easy to prove. Number divisors R, including the number itself R, obviously the following numbers are:

1, 2, 2 2…, 2 r-1,

q, 2q, 2 2 q..., 2 r-1 q.

Let's write down the sum of these divisors

1 + 2 +… + 2 R-1 + q(1 + 2 +… + 2 R-1),

which is equal to

(1 + 2 +… + 2 R-1)(q + 1) = (1 + 2 +… + 2 R-1) 2 R

If you don't remember the formula for the sum of terms of a geometric progression,

S = 1 + 2 +… + 2 R-1 ,

then multiply this amount by 2:

2S = 2 + 2 2 +… +2 R-1 + 2R,

and then, subtracting S, get

S= 2p - 1 = q.

Thus, the sum of all divisors of a number R There is

2 p q = 2 2 p-1 q,

and the sum of all divisors except the number itself R = 2 p-1 q, is equal

2 2 p-1 q - 2 p-1 q = 2 p-1 q= R.

So our number is perfect.

From this result it follows that every Mersenne prime number generates a perfect number. In § 2 of the second chapter it was said that only 23 Mersenne prime numbers are known, therefore, we also know 23 perfect numbers. Are there other types of perfect numbers? All perfect numbers of the form (3.4.1) are even; it can be proven that any even perfect number has the form (3.4.1). The question remains: do odd perfect numbers exist? At present we do not know any such number, and the question of the existence of odd perfect numbers is one of the most famous problems in number theory. If such a number could be discovered, it would be a major achievement. You may be tempted to find such a number by trying various odd numbers. But we do not recommend doing this, because latest messages Brian Tuckerman of IBM (1968), an odd perfect number must have at least 36 digits.

Task system 3.4.

1. Using the Mersenne prime number list, find the fourth and fifth perfect numbers.

From the book Seekers of Extraordinary Autographs author Levshin Vladimir Arturovich

NUMBERS, NUMBERS, NUMBERS... “There is such a book,” Mate began, “Dialogues about Mathematics.” It was written by the outstanding Hungarian mathematician of our century Alfred Rényi. The form of dialogue was not chosen by him by chance, just as it was not by chance that Galileo Galilei probably once turned to it. Genre of dialogue

From the book Invitation to Number Theory by Ore Oistin

§ 4. Figured numbers In number theory we often encounter squares, i.e. numbers such as 32 = 9, 72 = 49, 102 = 100, and similarly with cubes, i.e. numbers such as 23 = 8, 33 = 27, 53 = 125. Fig. 2. This geometric image of the number operation in question is part of the rich

From the book Scientific Tricks and Riddles author Perelman Yakov Isidorovich

CHAPTER 2 PRIME NUMBERS § 1. Prime and Composite Numbers It must have been one of the first properties of numbers discovered by man that some of them could be factored into two or more factors, for example, 6 = 2 3, 9 = 3 3 , 30 = 2 15 = 3 10, while others, for example, 3, 7, 13, 37, do not

From the book Apology of Mathematics, or About Mathematics as a Part of Spiritual Culture author Uspensky Vladimir Andreevich

§ 2. Mersenne prime numbers For several centuries there was a pursuit of prime numbers. Many mathematicians have competed for the honor of being the discoverer of the largest known prime number. Of course, it would be possible to select several very large numbers that do not have such

From the book Mathematics of Love. Patterns, evidence and search perfect solution by Fray Hannah

§ 3. Fermat prime numbers There is also another type of prime numbers with large and interesting story. They were first introduced by the French jurist Pierre Fermat (1601–1665), who became famous for his outstanding mathematical work. First five prime numbers

From the book The Secret Life of Numbers [Curious Sections of Mathematics] by Navarro Joaquin

§ 5. Friendly numbers Friendly numbers are also part of the inheritance we inherited from Greek numerology. If two people had names such that their numeric values satisfied next condition: the sum of the parts (divisors) of one of them was equal to the second

From the book Volume 9. The Fermat Riddle. Three-Century Challenge to Mathematics author Violant-and-Holtz Albert

§ 2. Mutually prime numbers The number 1 is a common divisor for any pair of numbers a and b. It may happen that unity will be their only common divisor, i.e. d0 = D(a, b) = 1. (4.2.1) In this case, we say that the numbers a and b are relatively prime. Example. (39, 22) = 1.If the numbers have a common

From the author's book

§ 1. Numbers “Everything is a number” - taught the ancient Pythagoreans. However, the number of numbers they used is insignificant compared to the fantastic dance of numbers that surrounds us today in everyday life. Huge numbers appear when we count, and when

From the author's book

44. What numbers? What two integers, if multiplied, make seven? Remember that both numbers must be integers, so answers like 31/2? 2 or 21/3? 3, not

From the author's book

47. Three numbers Which three integers, if multiplied, give the same amount as obtained from them From the author’s book

Magic Numbers As with many previous surveys, respondents found that the average number of lifetime sexual partners was relatively low: about seven for heterosexual women and about thirteen for heterosexual men.

From the author's book

Chapter 1 Numbers Albert! Stop telling God what to do! Niels Bohr to Albert Einstein In the beginning there were number and figure. When man tried to master them, science was born, and man began to learn the world. The development of science was often accompanied by funny,

From the author's book

Appendix Curly Numbers A figurative number is a number that can be represented as points arranged in the shape of a regular polygon. These numbers for a long time served as the object of close attention of mathematicians. The Greeks attributed magical properties to them,

Examples

  • 1st perfect number - has the following proper divisors: 1, 2, 3; their sum 1 + 2 + 3 is 6.
  • 2nd perfect number - has the following proper divisors: 1, 2, 4, 7, 14; their sum 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 is 28.
  • 3rd perfect number - has the following proper divisors: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 31, 62, 124, 248; their sum 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248 is 496.
  • 4th perfect number - has the following proper divisors: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 127, 254, 508, 1016, 2032, 4064; their sum 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 127 + 254 + 508 + 1016 + 2032 + 4064 is 8128.

History of the study

Even perfect numbers

The algorithm for constructing even perfect numbers is described in Book IX Began Euclid, where it was proven that a number is perfect if the number is prime (the so-called Mersenne primes). Subsequently, Leonhard Euler proved that all even perfect numbers have the form indicated by Euclid.

The first four perfect numbers are given in Arithmetic Nicomacheus of Geraz. The fifth perfect number, 33,550,336, was discovered by the German mathematician Regiomontanus (15th century). In the 16th century, the German scientist Scheibel found two more perfect numbers: 8,589,869,056 and 137,438,691,328. They correspond to R= 17 and R= 19. At the beginning of the 20th century, three more perfect numbers were found (for R= 89, 107 and 127). Subsequently, the search slowed down until the middle of the 20th century, when, with the advent of computers, calculations beyond human capabilities became possible.

As of April 2010, 47 Mersenne primes and their corresponding even perfect numbers are known; the GIMPS distributed computing project is searching for new Mersenne primes.

Odd perfect numbers

Odd perfect numbers have not yet been discovered, but it has not been proven that they do not exist. It is also unknown whether the set of all perfect numbers is infinite.

It has been proven that an odd perfect number, if it exists, has at least 9 different prime factors and at least 75 prime factors, taking into account multiplicity. The distributed computing project OddPerfect.org is looking for odd perfect numbers.

Properties

Notable Facts

The special (“perfect”) nature of the numbers 6 and 28 was recognized in cultures based on the Abrahamic religions, which claim that God created the world in 6 days and noted that the Moon orbits the Earth in approximately 28 days.

“Equally important is the idea expressed by the number 496. It is the “theosophical extension” of the number 31 (that is, the sum of all the integers from 1 to 31). Among other things, it is the sum of the word Malkuth, meaning "Kingdom". Thus the Kingdom, the full manifestation of the primary idea of ​​God, appears in gematria as the natural complement or manifestation of the number 31, which is the number of the name 78.”

"The number 6 is perfect in itself, and not because the Lord created all things in 6 days; rather, on the contrary, God created all things in 6 days because this number is perfect. And it would remain perfect even if there was no creation in 6 days."

see also

  • Slightly redundant numbers (quasi-perfect numbers)

Notes

Links

  • Depman I. Perfect numbers // Quantum. - 1991. - No. 5. - P. 13-17.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what “Perfect number” is in other dictionaries:

    PERFECT NUMBER, see NUMBER PERFECT...

    A natural number equal to the sum of all its regular (i.e., smaller than this number) divisors. For example, 6=1+2+3 and 28=1+2+4+7+14 are perfect numbers... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    A natural number equal to the sum of all its regular (that is, smaller than this number) divisors. For example, 6 = 1 + 2 + 3 and 28 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 are perfect numbers. * * * PERFECT NUMBER PERFECT NUMBER, a natural number equal to the sum... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    Whole positive number, having the property that it coincides with the sum of all its positive divisors other than this number itself. Thus, an integer is a number if the number is, for example, the numbers 6, 28, 496, 8128,33550336... Mathematical Encyclopedia

    NUMBER, PERFECT, INTEGER equal to the sum of its DIvisors, including 1. For example, the number 28 is a perfect number because its divisors are the numbers 1, 2, 4, 7 and 14 (not counting the number 28 itself), and their sum is 28 It is not known... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

    Numbers of the form Mn = 2n 1, where n is a natural number. Named after the French mathematician Mersenne. The sequence of Mersenne numbers begins like this: 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127, 255, 511, 1023, ... (sequence A000225 in OEIS) Sometimes numbers ... ... Wikipedia

    Number- Since ancient times different numbers attributed secret meanings. Philosophers, followers of Pythagoras (about 500 BC), argued that numbers are the basic principle and essence of things and defined in detail the qualities and types of numbers. According to them... ... Dictionary of Biblical Names

    Continuous closed topological mapping. spaces such that the inverse images of all points are compact. S. o. are in many ways similar to continuous mappings of compact spaces into Hausdorff spaces (each such mapping is perfect), but a sphere... ... Mathematical Encyclopedia

    Hexagonal number is a curly number. The nth hexagonal number is the number of points in a hexagon with exactly n points on each side. Formula for the nth hexagonal number ... Wikipedia

    This term has other meanings, see 6 (meanings). 6 six 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Factorization: 2×3 Roman notation: VI Binary: 110 Octal: 6 Hex... Wikipedia


Eigendivisor a natural number is any divisor other than the number itself. If a number is equal to the sum of its own divisors, then it is called perfect. So, 6 = 3 + 2 + 1 is the smallest of all perfect numbers (1 does not count), 28 = 14 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 1 is another such number.

Perfect numbers have been known since ancient times and have interested scientists at all times. In Euclid's Elements it was proven that if a prime number has the form 2 n– 1 (such numbers are called Mersenne prime numbers), then the number 2 n–1 (2 n– 1) - perfect. And in the 18th century, Leonhard Euler proved that any even perfect number has this form.

Task

Try to prove these facts and find a couple more perfect numbers.


Hint 1

a) To prove a statement from the Principia (what if a prime number has the form 2 n– 1, then the number is 2 n –1 (2n– 1) - perfect), it is convenient to consider the sigma function, which is equal to the sum of all positive divisors of a natural number n. For example, σ (3) = 1 + 3 = 4, and σ (4) = 1 + 2 + 4 = 7. This function has useful property: she multiplicative, that is σ (ab) = σ (a)σ (b); the equality holds for any two coprime natural numbers a And b (mutually prime are numbers that have no common divisors). You can try to prove this property or take it on faith.

Using the sigma function to prove the perfection of a number N = 2n –1 (2n– 1) comes down to checking that σ (N) = 2N. For this purpose, the multiplicativity of this function is useful.

b) Another solution does not use any additional structures like a sigma function. It relies only on the definition of a perfect number: you need to write down all the divisors of the number 2 n–1 (2 n– 1) and find their sum. It should be the same number.

Hint 2

Proving that any even perfect number is a power of two multiplied by a Mersenne prime is also convenient using the sigma function. Let N- any even perfect number. Then σ (N) = 2N. Let's imagine N as N = 2k· m, Where m- odd number. That's why σ (N) = σ (2k· m) = σ (2k)σ (m) = (1 + 2 + ... + 2k)σ (m) = (2k +1 – 1)σ (m).

It turns out that 2 2 k· m = (2k +1 – 1)σ (m). So 2 k+1 – 1 divides the product 2 k+1 · m, and since 2 k+1 – 1 and 2 k+1 are relatively prime, then m must be divisible by 2 k+1 – 1. That is m can be written in the form m = (2k+1 – 1) M. Substituting this expression into the previous equality and reducing by 2 k+1 – 1, we get 2 k+1 · M = σ (m). Now there is only one, although not the most obvious, step left until the end of the proof.

Solution

The tips contain Substantial part evidence of both facts. Let's fill in the missing steps here.

1. Euclid's theorem.

a) First you need to prove that the sigma function is indeed multiplicative. In fact, since every natural number can be uniquely factored into prime factors (this statement is called the fundamental theorem of arithmetic), it is enough to prove that σ (pq) = σ (p)σ (q), Where p And q- various prime numbers. But it is quite obvious that in this case σ (p) = 1 + p, σ (q) = 1 + q, A σ (pq) = 1 + p + q + pq = (1 + p)(1 + q).

Now let's complete the proof of the first fact: if a prime number has the form 2 n– 1, then the number N = 2n –1 (2n– 1) - perfect. To do this, it is enough to check that σ (N) = 2N(since the sigma function is the sum everyone divisors of the number, that is, the sum own divisors plus the number itself). We check: σ (N) = σ (2n –1 (2n – 1)) = σ (2n –1)σ (2n – 1) = (1 + 2 + ... + 2n–1)·((2 n – 1) + 1) = (2n- 12 n = 2N. Here it was used that times 2 n– 1 is a prime number, then σ (2n – 1) = (2n – 1) + 1 = 2n.

b) Let’s complete the second solution. Find all proper divisors of the number 2 n –1 (2n- 1). This is 1; powers of two 2, 2 2, ..., 2 n-1 ; Prime number p = 2n- 1; as well as divisors of type 2 m· p, where 1 ≤ mn– 2. The summation of all divisors is thereby divided into the calculation of the sums of two geometric progressions. The first one starts with 1, and the second one starts with a number p; both have a denominator equal to 2. According to the formula for the sum of elements of a geometric progression, the sum of all elements of the first progression is equal to 1 + 2 + ... + 2 n –1 = (2n – 1)/2 – 1 = 2n– 1 (and this is equal p). The second progression gives p·(2 n –1 – 1)/(2 – 1) = p·(2 n-eleven). In total, it turns out p + p·(2 n –1 – 1) = 2n-1 · p- what you need.

Most likely, Euclid was not familiar with the sigma function (and indeed with the concept of a function), so his proof is presented in a slightly different language and is closer to the solution from point b). It is contained in sentence 36 of Book IX of Elements and is available, for example, .

2. Euler's theorem.

Before proving Euler's theorem, we also note that if 2 n– 1 is a prime Mersenne number, then n must also be a prime number. The point is that if n = km- compound, then 2 km – 1 = (2k)m– 1 is divisible by 2 k– 1 (since the expression x m– 1 is divided by x– 1, this is one of the abbreviated multiplication formulas). And this contradicts the simplicity of the number 2 n– 1. Converse statement - “if n- prime, then 2 n– 1 is also prime” - not true: 2 11 – 1 = 23·89.

Let's return to Euler's theorem. Our goal is to prove that any even perfect number has the form obtained by Euclid. Hint 2 outlined the first steps of the proof, leaving the final step to take. From equality 2 k+1 · M = σ (m) follows that m divided by M. But m is also divisible by itself. Wherein M + m = M + (2k+1 – 1) M = 2 k+1 · M = σ (m). This means that the number m there are no other divisors except M And m. Means, M= 1, a m- a prime number that has the form 2 k+1 – 1. Then N = 2k· m = 2k(2k+1 – 1), which is what was required.

So, the formulas are proven. Let's use them to find some perfect numbers. At n= 2 the formula gives 6, and when n= 3 turns out to be 28; These are the first two perfect numbers. According to the property of Mersenne prime numbers, we need to choose such a prime n that 2 n– 1 will also be a prime number, and composite n may not be considered at all. At n= 5 equals 2 n– 1 = 32 – 1 = 31, this suits us. Here is the third perfect number - 16·31 = 496. Just in case, let's check its perfection explicitly. Let's write down all the proper divisors of 496: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 31, 62, 124, 248. Their sum is 496, so everything is in order. The next perfect number is obtained by n= 7 is 8128. The corresponding Mersenne prime is 2 7 – 1 = 127, and it is quite easy to verify that it is indeed prime. But the fifth perfect number is obtained when n= 13 and equals 33,550,336. But checking it manually is already very tedious (however, this did not stop someone from discovering it back in the 15th century!).

Afterword

The first two perfect numbers - 6 and 28 - have been known since time immemorial. Euclid (and we, following him), using the formula we had proven from the Elements, found the third and fourth perfect numbers - 496 and 8128. That is, at first only two were known, and then four numbers with the beautiful property of “being equal to the sum of their divisors " They could not find any more such numbers, and even these, at first glance, had nothing in common. In ancient times, people were inclined to attach mystical meaning to mysterious and incomprehensible phenomena, which is why perfect numbers received a special status. The Pythagoreans, who had a strong influence on the development of science and culture of that time, also contributed to this. “Everything is a number,” they said; the number 6 in their teaching had special magical properties. And the early interpreters of the Bible explained that the world was created precisely on the sixth day, because the number 6 is the most perfect among numbers, for it is the first among them. It also seemed to many that it was no coincidence that the Moon revolves around the Earth in about 28 days.

The fifth perfect number - 33,550,336 - was found only in the 15th century. Almost a century and a half later, the Italian Cataldi found the sixth and seventh perfect numbers: 8,589,869,056 and 137,438,691,328. They correspond to n= 17 and n= 19 in Euclid's formula. Please note that the count is already in the billions, and it’s scary to even imagine that all the calculations were done without calculators and computers!

As we know, Leonhard Euler proved that any even perfect number must have the form 2 n –1 (2n– 1), and 2 n– 1 should be simple. The eighth number - 2 305 843 008 139 952 128 - was also found by Euler in 1772. Here n= 31. After his achievements, one could cautiously say that something became clear to science about even perfect numbers. Yes, they grow quickly and are difficult to calculate, but at least it is clear how to do it: you need to take Mersenne numbers 2 n– 1 and look for simple ones among them. Almost nothing is known about odd perfect numbers. To date, not a single such number has been found, despite the fact that all numbers up to 10,300 have been tested (apparently, the lower limit has been pushed even further, the corresponding results have simply not yet been published). For comparison: the number of atoms in the visible part of the Universe is estimated to be about 10 80. It has not been proven that odd perfect numbers do not exist, it just can be very big number. Even so large that our computing power will never reach it. Whether such a number exists or not is one of the open problems in mathematics today. The computer search for odd perfect numbers is carried out by participants in the OddPerfect.org project.

Let's return to even perfect numbers. The ninth number was found in 1883 by a rural priest from the Perm province I.M. Pervushin. This number has 37 digits. Thus, by the beginning of the 20th century, only 9 perfect numbers had been found. At this time, mechanical arithmetic machines appeared, and in the middle of the century the first computers appeared. With their help, things went faster. Currently, 47 perfect numbers have been found. Moreover, only the first forty have serial numbers known. About seven more numbers it has not yet been established exactly what they are. The search for new Mersenne primes (and with them new perfect numbers) is mainly carried out by members of the GIMPS project (mersenne.org).

In 2008, project participants found the first prime number with more than 10,000,000 = 10 7 digits. For this they received a prize of $100,000. Cash prizes of $150,000 and $250,000 are also promised for prime numbers consisting of more than 10 8 and 10 9 digits, respectively. It is expected that those who have found smaller but not yet discovered Mersenne primes will also receive a reward from this money. True, on modern computers checking numbers of this length for primality will take years, and this is probably a matter of the future. The largest prime number today is 243112609 – 1. It consists of 12,978,189 digits. Note that thanks to the Lucas-Lehmer test (see its proof: A proof of the Lucas–Lehmer Test), checking for the primality of Mersenne numbers is greatly simplified: there is no need to try to find at least one divisor of the next candidate (this is a very labor-intensive job, which for such large numbers is practically impossible now).

Perfect numbers have some fun arithmetic properties:

  • Every even perfect number is also a triangular number, that is, it can be represented as 1 + 2 + ... + k = k(k+ 1)/2 for some k.
  • Every even perfect number except 6 is the sum of the cubes of successive odd natural numbers. For example, 28 = 1 3 + 3 3, and 496 = 1 3 + 3 3 + 5 3 + 7 3.
  • In the binary number system, the perfect number is 2 n –1 (2n– 1) is written very simply: first they go n units, and then - n– 1 zeros (this follows from Euclid’s formula). For example, 6 10 = 110 2, 28 10 = 11100 2, 33550336 10 = 1111111111111000000000000 2.
  • The sum of the reciprocals of all divisors of a perfect number (the number itself is also involved here) is equal to 2. For example, 1/1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/7 + 1/14 + 1/28 = 2.

When dealing with large numbers, scientists use powers of 10 to get rid of huge amount zeros. For example, 19,160,000,000,000 miles can be written as 1.916 10 13 miles. Very much the same small number, for example 0.0000154324 g, can be written 1.54324·10 –5 g. Of the prefixes used before numerals, the smallest value corresponds to atto, which comes from the Danish or Norwegian atten - eighteen. The prefix means 10 –18. The prefix exa (from the Greek hexa, i.e. 6 groups of 3 zeros), or abbreviated E, means 10 18.

Biggest numbers

The most a large number, found in explanatory dictionaries and called a power of 10, is the centillion, first used in 1852. It is a million to the hundredth power, or one followed by 600 zeros.

The largest named non-decimal number is the Buddhist number asankheya, equal to 10 140; it is mentioned in the Jaina Sutra works dating back to 100 BC.

The number 10,100 is called googol. This term was coined by the 9-year-old nephew of Edward Kasner (USA) (d. 1955). A googol 10 to the power is called a googolplex. Some idea of ​​this value can be obtained by remembering that the number of electrons in the observable Universe, according to some theories, does not exceed 10 87 .

The largest number ever used in mathematical proof is the limiting quantity known as Graham's number, first used in 1977. It is associated with bichromatic hypercubes and cannot be expressed without a special 64-level system of special mathematical symbols introduced by Knuth in 1977

Highest number of multipliers

Computer scientists, using more than 400 interconnected computers, found the factors of a 100-digit number. The calculations, which took 26 days, call into question the reliability of many modern encryption systems.

Prime numbers

A prime number is any positive integer (except 1) that is divisible only by itself or by one, i.e. 2, 3, 5, 7 or 11. The smallest prime number is 2. The largest prime number, 391,581 2 216193 – 1, was discovered on August 6, 1989 by the group Amdal-6. The number containing 65,087 characters was obtained on the Amdal-1200 supercomputer in Santa Clara, California, USA. The team also discovered the largest paired prime numbers: (1,706,595 2 11235 – 1) and (1,706,595 2 11235 + 1). The smallest non-prime or composite number (other than 1) is 4.

Perfect numbers

A number is perfect if it is equal to the sum of its divisors other than the number itself, for example 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28. The smallest perfect number is: 6 = 1 + 2 + 3.

The largest known number, the 31st discovered to date, is (2 216091 – 1) 2 216090 . This number was obtained thanks to the discovery in September 1985 by the mathematician Marcenne (USA) of the number 2 216091 - 1, which is currently known as the second largest prime number.

Newest mathematical constant

In the course of studies of turbulent water flow, weather and other chaotic phenomena, the existence of a new universal constant was revealed - the Feigenbaum number, named after its discoverer. It is approximately equal to 4.669201609102990.

Maximum number of proofs of the theorem

Longest proof

Proof of the classification of all finite simple groups took up more than 14 thousand pages containing almost 500 scientific works, the authors of which were more than 100 mathematicians. The proof continued for more than 35 years.

The oldest mathematical problem

It dates back to 1650 BC. and in the Russian version it sounds like this:

On the way to Dijon
I met a husband and his seven wives.
Each wife has seven bales,
Each bale contains seven cats.
How many cats, bales and wives
Moved peacefully to Dijon?

The largest number claimed to be accurate in physics

The English astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington (1882...1944) stated in 1938 that there are exactly 15,747,724,136,275,002,577,605,653,961,181,555 468,044 in the Universe in the Universe 076 185 631 031 296 protons and the same number of electrons. Unfortunately for Eddington, no one agreed with his ultra-precise calculations, which are currently not taken seriously.

Most prolific mathematician

Leonhard Euler (Switzerland, Russia) (1707...1783) was so prolific that more than 50 years after his death his works were still being published for the first time. The collected works have been published in parts since 1910, and will ultimately amount to 75 large volumes in quarto size.

The biggest prize

Dr. Paul Wolfskell bequeathed in 1908 a prize of 100 thousand German marks to the first person to prove Fermat's Last Theorem. As a result of inflation, the premium is now just over DM 10,000.

The longest search on a computer for an answer to the question: yes or no?

Fermat's 20th number + 1 was tested on the Cray-2 supercomputer in 1986 to determine whether it was prime. After 10 days of calculations, the answer was NO.

The most mathematically illiterate

The Nambikwara people, living in the northwestern state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, are the most math illiterate. They completely lack a number system. True, they use a verb that means “they are equal.”

The most accurate and inaccurate value of the number π

The largest number of decimal places for π, equal to 1,011,196,691 decimal places, was obtained in 1989 by David and Gregory Chudnovsky of Columbia University, New York, USA, using the Cray-2 supercomputer and a network of IBM 3090 computers. Calculations have been checked for accuracy. By the way, decimal placesπ from the 762nd to the 767th decimal place contain 6 nines in a row.

In 1897, the General Assembly of the American state of Indiana approved Bill 246, according to which the number π was taken to be equal to 4. In 1853, William Shanks published his calculations of the number π to the 707th decimal place, made by hand. 92 years later, in 1945, it was discovered that the last 180 digits were incorrect.

The most ancient units of measurement

The oldest known measure of weight is beka from the Amratian period of Egyptian civilization (circa 3800 BC), found in Naqada, Egypt. The weights were cylindrical in shape with rounded ends. They weighed from 188.7 to 211.2 g.

Apparently, the builders of megalithic tombs in northwestern Europe (about 3500 BC) used a length measure of 82.9 ± 0.09 cm. This conclusion was reached by Professor Alexander Thom (1894... 1985) in 1966

Measuring time

Due to changes in the length of the day, which increase on average by 1 ms per century under the influence of the tidal forces of the Moon, the definition of the second was revised. Instead of 1/86,400 of the average solar day, its duration since 1960 has been defined as 1/315,569,259,747 of the solar (or tropical) year as of 12 hours of ephemeris time in January 1900. In 1958, the second was taken equal to 9,192 631,770 ± 20 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between the ground state levels of the cesium-133 atom in the absence of external fields. The largest daily change recorded was on August 8, 1972, which was 10 ms and was caused by the most powerful solar storm observed in the last 370 years.

The accuracy of the cesium frequency standard approaches 8 parts in 10 14 , which is higher than 2 parts in 10 13 for a methane-stabilized helium-neon laser and than 6 parts in 10 13 for a hydrogen maser.

The longest measure of time is kalpa in Hindu chronology. It is equal to 4320 million years. In astronomy, a cosmic year is the period of revolution of the Sun around the center Milky Way, it is equal to 225 million years. During the Late Cretaceous period (about 85 million years ago), the Earth rotated faster, resulting in a year consisting of 370.3 days. There is also evidence that in the Cambrian era (600 million years ago) the year lasted more than 425 days.

Guinness Book of Records, 1998