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This is a front-end for the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, made by Christian Perfect. The idea is to provide OEIS entries in non-ancient HTML, and then to think about how they're presented visually. The source code is on GitHub.

A000396 Perfect numbers k: k is equal to the sum of the proper divisors of k.

Original entry on oeis.org

6, 28, 496, 8128, 33550336, 8589869056, 137438691328, 2305843008139952128, 2658455991569831744654692615953842176, 191561942608236107294793378084303638130997321548169216
Offset: 1

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Author

N. J. A. Sloane

Keywords

Comments

A number k is abundant if sigma(k) > 2k (cf. A005101), perfect if sigma(k) = 2k (this sequence), or deficient if sigma(k) < 2k (cf. A005100), where sigma(k) is the sum of the divisors of k (A000203).
The numbers 2^(p-1)*(2^p - 1) are perfect, where p is a prime such that 2^p - 1 is also prime (for the list of p's see A000043). There are no other even perfect numbers and it is believed that there are no odd perfect numbers.
Numbers k such that Sum_{d|k} 1/d = 2. - Benoit Cloitre, Apr 07 2002
For number of divisors of a(n) see A061645(n). Number of digits in a(n) is A061193(n). - Lekraj Beedassy, Jun 04 2004
All terms other than the first have digital root 1 (since 4^2 == 4 (mod 6), we have, by induction, 4^k == 4 (mod 6), or 2*2^(2*k) = 8 == 2 (mod 6), implying that Mersenne primes M = 2^p - 1, for odd p, are of the form 6*t+1). Thus perfect numbers N, being M-th triangular, have the form (6*t+1)*(3*t+1), whence the property N mod 9 = 1 for all N after the first. - Lekraj Beedassy, Aug 21 2004
The earliest recorded mention of this sequence is in Euclid's Elements, IX 36, about 300 BC. - Artur Jasinski, Jan 25 2006
Theorem (Euclid, Euler). An even number m is a perfect number if and only if m = 2^(k-1)*(2^k-1), where 2^k-1 is prime. Euler's idea came from Euclid's Proposition 36 of Book IX (see Weil). It follows that every even perfect number is also a triangular number. - Mohammad K. Azarian, Apr 16 2008
Triangular numbers (also generalized hexagonal numbers) A000217 whose indices are Mersenne primes A000668, assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, May 09 2008, Sep 15 2013
If a(n) is even, then 2*a(n) is in A181595. - Vladimir Shevelev, Nov 07 2010
Except for a(1) = 6, all even terms are of the form 30*k - 2 or 45*k + 1. - Arkadiusz Wesolowski, Mar 11 2012
a(4) = A229381(1) = 8128 is the "Simpsons's perfect number". - Jonathan Sondow, Jan 02 2015
Theorem (Farideh Firoozbakht): If m is an integer and both p and p^k-m-1 are prime numbers then x = p^(k-1)*(p^k-m-1) is a solution to the equation sigma(x) = (p*x+m)/(p-1). For example, if we take m=0 and p=2 we get Euclid's result about perfect numbers. - Farideh Firoozbakht, Mar 01 2015
The cototient of the even perfect numbers is a square; in particular, if 2^p - 1 is a Mersenne prime, cototient(2^(p-1) * (2^p - 1)) = (2^(p-1))^2 (see A152921). So, this sequence is a subsequence of A063752. - Bernard Schott, Jan 11 2019
Euler's (1747) proof that all the even perfect number are of the form 2^(p-1)*(2^p-1) implies that their asymptotic density is 0. Kanold (1954) proved that the asymptotic density of odd perfect numbers is 0. - Amiram Eldar, Feb 13 2021
If k is perfect and semiprime, then k = 6. - Alexandra Hercilia Pereira Silva, Aug 30 2021
This sequence lists the fixed points of A001065. - Alois P. Heinz, Mar 10 2024

Examples

			6 is perfect because 6 = 1+2+3, the sum of all divisors of 6 less than 6; 28 is perfect because 28 = 1+2+4+7+14.

References

  • Tom M. Apostol, Introduction to Analytic Number Theory, Springer-Verlag, 1976, page 4.
  • Albert H. Beiler, Recreations in the Theory of Numbers, Dover, NY, 2d ed. 1966, pp. 11-23.
  • Stanley J. Bezuszka, Perfect Numbers (Booklet 3, Motivated Math. Project Activities), Boston College Press, Chestnut Hill MA, 1980.
  • John H. Conway and Richard K. Guy, The Book of Numbers, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1996. See pp. 136-137.
  • Euclid, Elements, Book IX, Section 36, about 300 BC.
  • Jan Gullberg, Mathematics from the Birth of Numbers, W. W. Norton & Co., NY & London, 1997, §3.3 Perfect and Amicable Numbers, pp. 82-83.
  • R. K. Guy, Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, Springer, 1st edition, 1981. See section B1.
  • G. H. Hardy and E. M. Wright, An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers. 3rd ed., Oxford Univ. Press, 1954, p. 239.
  • T. Koshy, "The Ends Of A Mersenne Prime And An Even Perfect Number", Journal of Recreational Mathematics, Baywood, NY, 1998, pp. 196-202.
  • Joseph S. Madachy, Madachy's Mathematical Recreations, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1979, p. 149 (First publ. by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1966, under the title: Mathematics on Vacation).
  • Alfred S. Posamentier, Math Charmers, Tantalizing Tidbits for the Mind, Prometheus Books, NY, 2003, pages 46-48, 244-245.
  • Paulo Ribenboim, The Little Book of Bigger Primes, Springer-Verlag NY 2004. See pp. 83-87.
  • József Sándor and Borislav Crstici, Handbook of Number Theory, II, Springer Verlag, 2004.
  • N. J. A. Sloane, A Handbook of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1973 (includes this sequence).
  • N. J. A. Sloane and Simon Plouffe, The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1995 (includes this sequence).
  • Ian Stewart, L'univers des nombres, "Diviser Pour Régner", Chapter 14, pp. 74-81, Belin-Pour La Science, Paris, 2000.
  • James J. Tattersall, Elementary Number Theory in Nine Chapters, Cambridge University Press, 1999, chapter 4, pages 127-149.
  • Horace S. Uhler, On the 16th and 17th perfect numbers, Scripta Math., Vol. 19 (1953), pp. 128-131.
  • André Weil, Number Theory, An approach through history, From Hammurapi to Legendre, Birkhäuser, 1984, p. 6.
  • David Wells, The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers, pp. 107-110, Penguin Books, 1987.

Links

Crossrefs

See A000043 for the current state of knowledge about Mersenne primes.
Cf. A007539, A005820, A027687, A046060, A046061, A000668, A090748, A133033, A000217, A000384, A019279, A061652, A006516, A144912, A153800, A007593, A220290, A028499-A028502, A034916, A065549, A275496, A063752, A156552, A152921, A324201.
Cf. A228058 for Euler's criterion for odd terms.
Positions of 0's in A033879 and in A033880.
Subsequence of following sequences: A005835, A006039, A007691, A023196, A043305, A065997, A083207, A109510, A118372, A216782, A246282, A263837, A294900, A333646, A334410, A335267, A336702, A341622, A342922, A344755, A352739, A357462, and (the even terms), of: A005153, A063752, A174973, A336547, A338520.
Cf. A001065.

Programs

  • Haskell
    a000396 n = a000396_list !! (n-1)
a000396_list = [x | x <- [1..], a000203 x == 2 * x]
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Jan 20 2012
  • Mathematica
    Select[Range[9000], DivisorSigma[1,#]== 2*# &] (* G. C. Greubel, Oct 03 2017 *)
PerfectNumber[Range[15]] (* Requires Mathematica version 10 or later *) (* Harvey P. Dale, Dec 10 2018 *)
  • PARI
    isA000396(n) = (sigma(n) == 2*n);
  • Python
    from sympy import divisor_sigma
def ok(n): return n > 0 and divisor_sigma(n) == 2*n
print([k for k in range(9999) if ok(k)]) # Michael S. Branicky, Mar 12 2022

Formula

The perfect number N = 2^(p-1)*(2^p - 1) is also multiplicatively p-perfect (i.e., A007955(N) = N^p), since tau(N) = 2*p. - Lekraj Beedassy, Sep 21 2004
a(n) = 2^A133033(n) - 2^A090748(n), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, Feb 28 2008
a(n) = A000668(n)*(A000668(n)+1)/2, assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, Apr 23 2008
a(n) = A000217(A000668(n)), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, May 09 2008
a(n) = Sum of the first A000668(n) positive integers, assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, May 09 2008
a(n) = A000384(A019279(n)), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers and no odd superperfect numbers. a(n) = A000384(A061652(n)), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, Aug 17 2008
a(n) = A006516(A000043(n)), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, Aug 30 2008
From Reikku Kulon, Oct 14 2008: (Start)
A144912(2, a(n)) = 1;
A144912(4, a(n)) = -1 for n > 1;
A144912(8, a(n)) = 5 or -5 for all n except 2;
A144912(16, a(n)) = -4 or -13 for n > 1. (End)
a(n) = A019279(n)*A000668(n), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers and odd superperfect numbers. a(n) = A061652(n)*A000668(n), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, Jan 09 2009
a(n) = A007691(A153800(n)), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, Jan 14 2009
Even perfect numbers N = K*A000203(K), where K = A019279(n) = 2^(p-1), A000203(A019279(n)) = A000668(n) = 2^p - 1 = M(p), p = A000043(n). - Lekraj Beedassy, May 02 2009
a(n) = A060286(A016027(n)), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Omar E. Pol, Dec 13 2012
For n >= 2, a(n) = Sum_{k=1..A065549(n)} (2*k-1)^3, assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Derek Orr, Sep 28 2013
a(n) = A275496(2^((A000043(n) - 1)/2)) - 2^A000043(n), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Daniel Poveda Parrilla, Aug 16 2016
a(n) = A156552(A324201(n)), assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Antti Karttunen, Mar 28 2019
a(n) = ((2^(A000043(n)))^3 - (2^(A000043(n)) - 1)^3 - 1)/6, assuming there are no odd perfect numbers. - Jules Beauchamp, Jun 06 2025

Extensions

I removed a large number of comments that assumed there are no odd perfect numbers. There were so many it was getting hard to tell which comments were true and which were conjectures. - N. J. A. Sloane, Apr 16 2023
Reference to Albert H. Beiler's book updated by Harvey P. Dale, Jan 13 2025

Started in 1964 by Neil J. A. Sloane | Maintained by The OEIS Foundation Inc.

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