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Research notes on every problem, and a library of the papers behind them. Built from the open erdos repository.

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Claim. Jeffrey Zeng posted a partial proof claim on the site's proof-claims tab of Problem 769 on 24 July 2026 (claim 132, the first discussion link), and the same day posted the h(n)h(n) part of the result on the tab of Problem 770 (claim 133, the second); the tab records the result as obtained using an OpenAI internal model. There is no manuscript: the listing's summary and notes carry the whole argument. The source card zeng_2026_collective_coprimality_threshold records the cross-listed claim 133, with its date, attribution and evidence limits, and the corpus's own-words reconstruction of its h(n)h(n) bounds; the step from h(n)h(n) to c(n)c(n) is not reconstructed there. Let P(n)P(n) be the largest prime pp with p−1∣np-1\mid n, let S(n)=⌊4n⌋+1S(n)=\lfloor\sqrt{4n}\rfloor+1, and let h(n)h(n) be the least M>2M>2 for which the integers 2n−1,3n−1,…,Mn−12^n-1,3^n-1,\ldots,M^n-1 have no common factor, the gcd taken over the whole list. The claim is that for every n≥1n\ge1

P(n)≤h(n)≤max⁡{P(n),S(n)},P(n)>2n ⟹ h(n)=P(n),P(n)\le h(n)\le\max\{P(n),S(n)\}, \qquad P(n)>2\sqrt n\ \Longrightarrow\ h(n)=P(n),

so that odd nn, where P(n)=2P(n)=2, have h(n)≤S(n)h(n)\le S(n). The refinement that replaces one cube by mnm^n cubes exists for every m≥2m\ge2 and raises the tile count by mn−1m^n-1; for odd nn the increments mn−1m^n-1 with 2≤m≤S(n)2\le m\le S(n) have no common factor, because h(n)≤S(n)h(n)\le S(n), and a Frobenius-type bound for the numerical semigroup they generate gives

c(n)≤(S(n)−1) (2n−2) (S(n)n−1)+1=o(nn).c(n)\le(S(n)-1)\,(2^n-2)\,(S(n)^n-1)+1=o(n^n).

The listing concludes that the uniform lower bound c(n)≫nnc(n)\gg n^n asked about in the problem is false. The argument puts 1,…,M1,\ldots,M into the subgroup of nn-th roots of unity of Fq×\mathbf F_q^\times for a prime qq dividing every listed power difference, which has at most nn elements; reduced fractions with numerator and denominator at most MM rule out q>M2q>M^2, a signed pigeonhole representation rules out M<q≤M2M<q\le M^2 for even nn, and the least quadratic nonresidue does so for odd nn. The threshold h(n)h(n) is the quantity of Problem 770, whose page records the same listing as a partial result for that problem.

Submission note. Posted to erdosproblems.com as a proof claim by Jeffrey Zeng (account jeffzeng) on 24 July 2026, giving "an OpenAI internal model" as the AI used:

AI-assisted, Lean-formalized partial result for #769/#770. All gcds are collective, not pairwise. Let P(n)=max⁡{p prime:p−1∣n}P(n)=\max\{p\text{ prime}:p-1\mid n\} and S(n)=⌊4n⌋+1S(n)=\lfloor\sqrt{4n}\rfloor+1. For all n≥1n\ge1,

P(n)≤>h(n)≤max⁡{P(n),S(n)},P(n)>2n⇒h(n)=P(n).P(n)\le > h(n)\le\max\{P(n),S(n)\},\quad P(n)>2\sqrt n\Rightarrow h(n)=P(n).

For odd

nn, h(n)≤S(n)h(n)\le S(n) and

c(n)≤(S(n)−1)(2n−2)(S(n)n−1)+1=o(nn).>c(n)\le(S(n)-1)(2^n-2)(S(n)^n-1)+1=o(n^n). >

Thus #769’s proposed uniform lower bound c(n)≫nnc(n)\gg n^n is false. This is

only a partial result for #770: its density, liminf, and general ε>0\varepsilon>0 questions remain unresolved. Novelty and priority have not been determined. AI disclosure: an OpenAI internal model. The central claims have a sorry-free Lean formalization. Notes: Let (G(n,M)=\gcd_{2\le a\le M}(a^n-1)), with M=max⁡{P(n),S(n)}M=\max\{P(n),S(n)\}. If q∣G(n,M)q\mid G(n,M), then q>Mq>M, and H={x∈Fq∗:xn=1}H=\{x\in\mathbf F_q^*:x^n=1\} has at most nn elements. If q>M2q>M^2, reduced fractions a/ba/b, 1≤a,b≤M1\le a,b\le M, inject into HH, but their number is at least M2/4+M>nM^2/4+M>n. If q≤M2q\le M^2 and nn is even, Dirichlet approximation gives x=a/kx=a/k, 1≤k≤M1\le k\le M, 0<∣a∣<M0<|a|<M; hence every x≠0x\ne0 satisfies xn=1x^n=1, forcing q−1∣nq-1\mid n, impossible since q>P(n)q>P(n). If nn is odd, HH consists of squares and the least quadratic nonresidue is at most ⌈q⌉\lceil\sqrt q\rceil, forcing q>M2q>M^2. Fermat gives P(n)≤h(n)P(n)\le h(n). Cube refinements add an−1a^n-1, so the gcd-one numerical-semigroup argument yields the stated cutoff.

Posted to erdosproblems.com as a proof claim by Jeffrey Zeng (account jeffzeng) on 24 July 2026, giving "an OpenAI internal model" as the AI used:

AI-assisted, Lean-formalized partial result for #770. Use the collective-gcd, strict-M>2M>2 definition of h(n)h(n). Let (P(n)=\max{p\text{ prime}:p-1\mid n}) and S(n)=⌊4n⌋+1S(n)=\lfloor\sqrt{4n}\rfloor+1. For every positive nn,

>P(n)≤h(n)≤max⁡{P(n),S(n)},P(n)>2n⇒h(n)=P(n).>> P(n)\le h(n)\le\max\{P(n),S(n)\},\qquad P(n)>2\sqrt n\Rightarrow h(n)=P(n). >

If nn is odd, h(n)≤S(n)h(n)\le S(n). More sharply, if p=P(n)>2p=P(n)>2 and

C(p)=#{(a,b):1≤a,b≤p,gcd⁡(a,b)=1}>nC(p)=\#\{(a,b):1\le a,b\le p,\gcd(a,b)=1\}>n, then h(n)=ph(n)=p, including cases with p≤2np\le2\sqrt n. These are partial results: the density, liminf, and general ε>0\varepsilon>0 questions remain unresolved. Novelty and priority have not been determined. AI disclosure: an OpenAI internal model. Notes: Put G(n,M)=gcd⁡2≤a≤M(an−1)G(n,M)=\gcd_{2\le a\le M}(a^n-1). If q∣G(n,M)q\mid G(n,M), then q>Mq>M, and H={x∈Fq∗:xn=1}H=\{x\in\mathbf F_q^*:x^n=1\} has at most nn elements. For q>M2q>M^2, reduced fractions a/ba/b, 1≤a,b≤M1\le a,b\le M, inject into HH. Their count is C(M)≥M2/4+MC(M)\ge M^2/4+M, so M≥S(n)M\ge S(n) or C(M)>nC(M)>n gives a contradiction. For q≤M2q\le M^2 and even nn, Dirichlet gives x=a/kx=a/k with 1≤k≤M1\le k\le M and 0<∣a∣<M0<|a|<M, so every x≠0x\ne0 satisfies xn=1x^n=1; hence q−1∣nq-1\mid n, contradicting q>P(n)q>P(n). For odd nn, all elements of HH are squares and the least quadratic nonresidue is at most (\lceil\sqrt q\rceil), forcing q>M2q>M^2. Fermat gives P(n)≤h(n)P(n)\le h(n). The restriction is necessary: n=86n=86 has P(n)=3P(n)=3 but h(n)=5h(n)=5.

Covers. The bound c(n)=o(nn)c(n)=o(n^n) along the odd integers, hence a negative answer to the question whether c(n)≫nnc(n)\gg n^n holds uniformly in nn, together with the stated bounds on h(n)h(n). It does not give the order of c(n)c(n) and says nothing about c(n)c(n) for even nn, in particular nothing about the case n+1n+1 prime in which Erdős expected c(n)>nnc(n)>n^n; the problem's request for good bounds is not settled by it.

Standing. The listing says the result is partial and that its novelty and priority are undetermined; it says the central claims have a Lean formalization without sorry, but links no Lean source, build record or certificate, so no formalization is linked here. The site's label is unchanged, its page was last edited on 1 October 2025 and the tab showed no comment on the entry as of 2026-10-07; no review by anyone outside the claimant is recorded, and the corpus's reconstruction on the source card is author-recorded compilation, not acceptance evidence. The claim is therefore claimed. Samuel Korsky's later listing, on Korsky's claim page, starts from the same subgroup observation and reaches a smaller exponent for odd nn by a different route; Korsky's manuscript cites this listing without using it. Star Fleet Math's Lean disproof of the nnn^n bound, whose Star Fleet Math entry is dated ten days before this listing, is on its claim page; neither is known to cite the other.