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| In [[number theory]], the '''Erdős–Straus conjecture''' states that for all [[integer]]s ''n'' ≥ 2, the [[rational number]] 4/''n'' can be expressed as the sum of three [[unit fraction]]s. [[Paul Erdős]] and [[Ernst G. Straus]] formulated the conjecture in 1948.<ref>See, e.g., {{harvtxt|Elsholtz|2001}}. Note however that the earliest published reference to it appears to be {{harvtxt|Erdős|1950}}.</ref> It is one of many [[Erdős conjecture|conjectures by Erdős]].
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| More formally, the conjecture states that, for every integer ''n'' ≥ 2, there exist positive integers ''x'', ''y'', and ''z'' such that
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| :<math>\frac4n = \frac1x + \frac1y + \frac1z.</math>
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| These unit fractions form an [[Egyptian fraction]] representation of the number 4/''n''. For instance, for ''n'' = 5, there are two solutions:
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| :<math>\frac45=\frac12+\frac14+\frac1{20}=\frac12+\frac15+\frac1{10}.</math>
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| The restriction that ''x'', ''y'', and ''z'' be positive is essential to the difficulty of the problem, for if negative values were allowed the problem could be solved trivially. Also, if ''n'' is a [[composite number]], ''n'' = ''pq'', then an expansion for 4/''n'' could be found immediately from an expansion for 4/''p'' or 4/''q''. Therefore, if a counterexample to the Erdős–Straus conjecture exists, the smallest ''n'' forming a counterexample would have to be a [[prime number]], and it can be further restricted to one of six [[arithmetic progression]]s modulo 840.<ref>{{harvtxt|Mordell|1967}}.</ref> Computer searches have verified the truth of the conjecture up to ''n'' ≤ 10<sup>14</sup>,<ref name="swett"/> but proving it for all ''n'' remains an [[open problem]].
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| ==Background==
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| The search for expansions of rational numbers as sums of unit fractions dates to the [[Egyptian mathematics|mathematics of ancient Egypt]], in which [[Egyptian fraction]] expansions of this type were used as a notation for recording fractional quantities. The Egyptians produced tables such as the [[Rhind Mathematical Papyrus 2/n table]] of expansions of fractions of the form 2/''n'', most of which use either two or three terms.
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| The [[greedy algorithm for Egyptian fractions]], first described in 1202 by [[Fibonacci]] in his book [[Liber Abaci]], finds an expansion in which each successive term is the largest unit fraction that is no larger than the remaining number to be represented. For fractions of the form 2/''n'' or 3/''n'', the greedy algorithm uses at most two or three terms respectively. More generally, it can be shown that a number of the form 3/''n'' has a two-term expansion if and only if ''n'' has a factor congruent to 2 modulo 3, and requires three terms in any expansion otherwise.<ref>{{harvtxt|Eppstein|1995}}.</ref>
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| Thus, for the numerators 2 and 3, the question of how many terms are needed in an Egyptian fraction is completely settled, and fractions of the form 4/''n'' are the first case in which the worst-case length of an expansion remains unknown. The greedy algorithm produces expansions of length two, three, or four depending on the value of ''n'' modulo 4; when ''n'' is congruent to 1 modulo 4, the greedy algorithm produces four-term expansions. Therefore, the worst-case length of an Egyptian fraction of 4/''n'' must be either three or four. The Erdős–Straus conjecture states that, in this case, as in the case for the numerator 3, the maximum number of terms in an expansion is three.
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| ==Modular identities==
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| Multiplying both sides of the equation 4/''n'' = 1/''x'' + 1/''y'' + 1/''z'' by ''nxyz'' leads to an equivalent form 4''xyz'' = ''n''(''xy'' + ''xz'' + ''yz'') for the problem.<ref>See e.g. {{harvtxt|Sander|1994}} for a simpler Diophantine formulation using more specific assumptions about which of ''x'', ''y'', and ''z'' are divisible by ''n''.</ref> As a [[polynomial equation]] with integer variables, this is an example of a [[Diophantine equation]]. The [[Hasse principle]] for Diophantine equations asserts that an integer solution of a Diophantine equation should be formed by combining solutions obtained modulo each possible [[prime number]]. On the face of it this principle makes little sense for the Erdős–Straus conjecture, as the equation 4''xyz'' = ''n''(''xy'' + ''xz'' + ''yz'') is easily solvable modulo any prime. Nevertheless, modular identities have proven a very important tool in the study of the conjecture.
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| For values of ''n'' satisfying certain [[Modular arithmetic|congruence relations]], one can find an expansion for 4/''n'' automatically as an instance of a polynomial identity. For instance, whenever ''n'' ≡ 2 (mod 3), 4/''n'' has the expansion
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| :<math>\frac{4}{n} = \frac{1}{n} + \frac{1}{(n-2)/3+1} + \frac{1}{n((n-2)/3+1)}.</math> | |
| Here each of the three denominators ''n'', (''n'' − 2)/3 + 1, and ''n''((''n'' − 2)/3 + 1) is a polynomial of ''n'', and each is an integer whenever ''n'' is 2 (mod 3).
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| The [[greedy algorithm for Egyptian fractions]] finds a solution in three or fewer terms whenever ''n'' is not 1 or 17 (mod 24), and the ''n'' ≡ 17 (mod 24) case is covered by the 2 (mod 3) relation, so the only values of ''n'' for which these two methods do not find expansions in three or fewer terms are those congruent to 1 (mod 24).
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| If it were possible to find solutions such as the ones above for enough different moduli, forming a complete [[covering system]] of congruences, the problem would be solved. However, as {{harvtxt|Mordell|1967}} showed, a polynomial identity that provides a solution for values of ''n'' congruent to ''r'' mod ''p'' can exist only when ''r'' is not a [[quadratic residue]] modulo ''p''. For instance, 2 is a not a quadratic residue modulo 3, so the existence of an identity for values of ''n'' that are congruent to 2 modulo 3 does not contradict Mordell's result, but 1 is a quadratic residue modulo 3 so the result proves that there can be no similar identity for values of ''n'' that are congruent to 1 modulo 3.
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| Mordell lists polynomial identities that provide three-term Egyptian fractions for 4/''n'' whenever ''n'' is 2 mod 3 (above), 3 mod 4, 5 mod 8, 2 or 3 mod 5, or 3, 5, or 6 mod 7. These identies cover all the numbers that are not quadratic residues for those bases. However, for larger bases, not all nonresidues are known to be covered by relations of this type. From Mordell's identities one can conclude that there exists a solution for all ''n'' except possibly those that are 1, 121, 169, 289, 361, or 529 modulo 840. 1009 is the smallest prime number that is not covered by this system of congruences. By combining larger classes of modular identities, Webb and others showed that the fraction of ''n'' in the interval [1,''N''] that can be counterexamples to the conjecture tends to zero in the limit as ''N'' goes to infinity.<ref name="sparse"/>
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| Despite Mordell's result limiting the form these congruence identities can take, there is still some hope of using modular identities to prove the Erdős–Straus conjecture. No prime number can be a square, so by the [[Hasse–Minkowski theorem]], whenever ''p'' is prime, there exists a larger prime ''q'' such that ''p'' is not a quadratic residue modulo ''q''. One possible approach to proving the conjecture would be
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| to find for each prime ''p'' a larger prime ''q'' and a congruence solving the 4/''n'' problem for ''n'' ≡ ''p'' (mod ''q''); if this could be done, no prime ''p'' could be a counterexample to the conjecture and the conjecture would be true.
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| ==Computational verification==
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| Various authors have performed [[brute-force search]]es for counterexamples to the conjecture; these searches can be greatly sped up by considering only prime numbers that are not covered by known congruence relations.<ref>{{harvtxt|Obláth|1950}}; {{harvtxt|Rosati|1954}}; {{harvtxt|Kiss|1959}}; {{harvtxt|Bernstein|1962}}; {{harvtxt|Yamamoto|1965}}; {{harvtxt|Terzi|1971}}; {{harvtxt|Jollensten|1976}}; {{harvtxt|Kotsireas|1999}}.</ref> Searches of this type by Allan Swett confirmed that the conjecture is true for all ''n'' up to 10<sup>14</sup>.<ref name="swett">{{citation
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| | last = Swett | first = Allan
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| | title = The Erdos-Straus Conjecture
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| | url = http://math.uindy.edu/swett/esc.htm
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| | accessdate = 2006-09-09 }}. | |
| </ref>
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| ==The number of solutions==
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| The number of distinct solutions to the 4/''n'' problem, as a function of ''n'', has also been found by computer searches for small ''n'' and appears to grow somewhat irregularly with ''n''. Starting with ''n'' = 3, the numbers of distinct solutions with distinct denominators are
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| :1, 1, 2, 5, 5, 6, 4, 9, 7, 15, 4, 14, 33, 22, 4, 21, 9, ... {{OEIS | id = A073101}}.
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| Even for larger ''n'' there can be relatively few solutions; for instance there are only seven distinct solutions for ''n'' = 73.
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| {{harvtxt|Elsholtz|Tao|2011}} have shown that the average number of solutions to the 4/''n'' problem (averaged over the prime numbers up to ''n'') is [[upper bound]]ed [[polylogarithmic]]ally in ''n''. For some other Diophantine problems, it is possible to prove that a solution always exists by proving [[asymptotic]] [[lower bound]]s on the number of solutions, but proofs of this type exist primarily for problems in which the number of solutions grows polynomially, so Elsholtz and Tao's result makes a solution of this type less likely.<ref>[http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/on-the-number-of-solutions-to-4p-1n_1-1n_2-1n_3/ On the number of solutions to 4/p = 1/n_1 + 1/n_2 + 1/n_3], [[Terence Tao]], "What's new", July 7, 2011.</ref> The proof of Elsholtz and Tao's bound on the number of solutions involves the [[Bombieri–Vinogradov theorem]], the [[Brun–Titchmarsh theorem]], and a system of modular identities, valid when ''n'' is congruent to −''c'' or −1/''c'' modulo 4''ab'', where ''a'' and ''b'' are any two [[coprime]] positive integers and ''c'' is any odd factor of ''a'' + ''b''. For instance, setting ''a'' = ''b'' = 1 gives one of Mordell's identities, valid when ''n'' is 3 (mod 4).
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| ==Negative-number solutions==
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| The restriction that ''x'', ''y'', and ''z'' be positive is essential to the difficulty of the problem, for if negative values were allowed the problem could be solved trivially via one of the two identities | |
| :<math>\frac{4}{4k+1} = \frac{1}{k} - \frac{1}{k(4k+1)}</math>
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| :<math>\frac{4}{4k-1} = \frac{1}{k} + \frac{1}{k(4k-1)}.</math>
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| Alternatively, for any odd ''n'', a three-term solution with one negative term is possible:<ref>{{harvtxt|Jaroma|2004}}.</ref>
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| :<math>\frac{4}{n}=\frac{1}{(n-1)/2}+\frac{1}{(n+1)/2}-\frac{1}{n(n-1)(n+1)/4}.</math>
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| ==Generalizations==
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| A generalized version of the conjecture states that, for any positive ''k'' there exists a number ''N'' such that, for all ''n'' ≥ ''N'', there exists a solution in positive integers to ''k''/''n'' = 1/''x'' + 1/''y'' + 1/''z''. The version of this conjecture for ''k'' = 5 was made by [[Wacław Sierpiński]], and the full conjecture is due to [[Andrzej Schinzel]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Sierpiński|1956}}; {{harvtxt|Vaughan|1970}}.</ref>
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| Even if the generalized conjecture is false for any fixed value of ''k'', then the number of fractions ''k''/''n'' with ''n'' in the range from 1 to ''N'' that do not have three-term expansions must grow only sublinearly as a function of ''N''.<ref name="sparse">{{harvtxt|Webb|1970}}; {{harvtxt|Vaughan|1970}}; {{harvtxt|Li|1981}}; {{harvtxt|Yang|1982}}; {{harvtxt|Ahmadi|Bleicher|1998}}; {{harvtxt|Elsholtz|2001}}.</ref> In particular, if the Erdős–Straus conjecture itself (the case ''k'' = 4) is false, then the number of counterexamples grows only sublinearly. Even more strongly, for any fixed ''k'', only a sublinear number of values of ''n'' need more than two terms in their Egyptian fraction expansions.<ref>{{harvtxt|Hofmeister|Stoll|1985}}.</ref> The generalized version of the conjecture is equivalent to the statement that the number of unexpandable fractions is not just sublinear but bounded.
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| When ''n'' is an [[odd number]], by analogy to the problem of [[odd greedy expansion]]s for Egyptian fractions, one may ask for solutions to ''k''/''n'' = 1/''x'' + 1/''y'' + 1/''z'' in which ''x'', ''y'', and ''z'' are distinct positive odd numbers. Solutions to this equation are known to always exist for the case that ''k'' = 3.<ref>{{harvtxt|Schinzel|1956}}; {{harvtxt|Suryanarayana|Rao|1965}}; {{harvtxt|Hagedorn|2000}}.</ref>
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| ==Notes==
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| | volume = 85
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| | year = 1982
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| | jstor = 2044050}}.
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| {{refend}}
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| ==External links==
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| *{{mathworld|title = Erdos-Straus Conjecture | urlname = Erdos-StrausConjecture}}
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| *[http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/counting-the-number-of-solutions-to-the-erdos-straus-equation-on-unit-fractions/ Counting the number of solutions to the Erdös-Straus equation on unit fractions], [[Terence Tao]], July 31, 2011.
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Erdos-Straus conjecture}}
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| [[Category:Conjectures]]
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| [[Category:Egyptian fractions]]
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| [[Category:Diophantine equations]]
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