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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. For the pairs (a,p)(a,p) in the repository's exact rows the exponents kk with pk∣a1!+⋯+an!p^k\mid a_1!+\cdots+a_n! for some a=a1<⋯<ana=a_1<\cdots<a_n are bounded, the first question of Problem 404 at those pairs, and the largest such exponent is computed: the rows displayed in the thread post are

f(3,3)=3, f(39,3)=25, f(700,3)=363, f(110,5)=30, f(236,5)=61,f(3,3)=3,\ f(39,3)=25,\ f(700,3)=363,\ f(110,5)=30,\ f(236,5)=61, f(42,7)=7, f(113,11)=11, f(163,13)=13,f(42,7)=7,\ f(113,11)=11,\ f(163,13)=13,

and the Lean examples add f(4,7)=0f(4,7)=0 and f(6,7)=0f(6,7)=0. Kenta Kitamura, under the forum name KentaKitamura, announced the repository KitaKen1/erdos-404-odd-prime-landscape in the site's discussion thread on 8 July 2026, the day after the p=2p=2 repository recorded on its page; its README (linked at the commit of that day) is the write-up. An exact row means that the search finds a witness at exponent KK and rules out exponent K+1K+1 by the same finite argument as at p=2p=2, with Legendre's formula bounding the candidate terms and a windowed dynamic program over residues modulo pK+1p^{K+1}. The repository also records witnesses giving f(1,3)≥20000f(1,3)\ge20000, f(1,5)≥20000f(1,5)\ge20000, f(1,7)≥20000f(1,7)\ge20000, f(1,11)≥5000f(1,11)\ge5000 and f(1,13)≥5000f(1,13)\ge5000, explicit lists checked modulo pKp^K, in the direction of Tao's thread remark that f(1,5)f(1,5) appears very large and possibly infinite, and baseline lower bounds f(a,p)≥vp(a!)f(a,p)\ge v_p(a!) for rows the scan left open; the post says these are finite witnesses, not claims of infinitude, and they settle no instance. The three Lean files (the formalization links) prove f(3,3)=3f(3,3)=3, f(4,7)=0f(4,7)=0 and f(6,7)=0f(6,7)=0 from both sides; this corpus has not built them. The post says the search programs, organization, Lean files and the post were prepared with assistance from Codex, ChatGPT and Claude Code (Fable 5); the human submitter is the claimant, with the systems named as the submitter names them.

Submission note. Posted to the site's forum by Kenta Kitamura on 8 July 2026:

I made an attempt repository for Problem #404's function f(a,p)f(a,p), focusing on the odd-prime columns p=3,5,7,11,13p=3,5,7,11,13: Repository: https://github.com/KitaKen1/erdos-404-odd-prime-landscape Visual table: https://kitaken1.github.io/erdos-404-odd-prime-landscape/

Contribution 1: witnesses for the special case a=1a=1, i.e. lower bounds for f(1,p)f(1,p). The displayed certificates give f(1,3)≥20000f(1,3)\ge 20000, $f(1,5)\ge 20000$, f(1,7)≥20000f(1,7)\ge 20000, f(1,11)≥5000f(1,11)\ge 5000, and f(1,13)≥5000f(1,13)\ge 5000. These are finite witnesses, not claims of infinitude; each witness is an explicit increasing list, checked directly modulo pKp^K. On the GitHub Pages visual table, one can click an entry and inspect the concrete list a1,…,ana_1,\ldots,a_n.

Contribution 2: rows for the remaining starts a>1a>1, i.e. data for f(a,p)f(a,p) beyond the a=1a=1 case. Contribution 2-1: exact rows for a>1a>1. These mean the search finds a witness at exponent KK and rules out exponent K+1K+1. Some rows currently displayed are f(3,3)=3f(3,3)=3, f(39,3)=25f(39,3)=25, f(700,3)=363f(700,3)=363, f(110,5)=30f(110,5)=30, f(236,5)=61f(236,5)=61, f(42,7)=7f(42,7)=7, f(113,11)=11f(113,11)=11, and f(163,13)=13f(163,13)=13. Small Lean4Web examples: f(3,3)=3f(3,3)=3: Lean4Web; f(4,7)=0f(4,7)=0: Lean4Web; f(6,7)=0f(6,7)=0: Lean4Web. Contribution 2-2: lower-bound rows for a>1a>1. Some cells are marked as scan-survivors. For those cells I am not claiming an exact value. The displayed lower bound is only the baseline certificate from the one-term list (a)(a): it proves f(a,p)≥vp(a!)f(a,p)\ge v_p(a!). Examples include f(40,3)≥18f(40,3)\ge18, f(300,5)≥74f(300,5)\ge74, f(294,7)≥48f(294,7)\ge48, f(297,11)≥29f(297,11)\ge29, and f(299,13)≥24f(299,13)\ge24. Whether a larger exponent is possible is left open.

This is in the direction of the discussion around Problem #404, especially Terence Tao's comments about f(1,5)f(1,5) : https://www.erdosproblems.com/forum/thread/404

AI disclosure: the search programs, organization, Lean files, and this comment were prepared with assistance from Codex, ChatGPT, and Claude Code (Fable 5).

Covers. The first question at the pairs (3,3)(3,3), (39,3)(39,3), (700,3)(700,3), (110,5)(110,5), (236,5)(236,5), (42,7)(42,7), (113,11)(113,11), (163,13)(163,13), (4,7)(4,7) and (6,7)(6,7): a finite bound exists, with the value of ff computed exactly. Not covered: the lower-bound rows, which decide nothing; a=1a=1 at any odd prime; the behavior of ff in general; and the third question.

Depends on. No page of this wiki.

Standing. Claimed: a research note in a public repository, unrefereed, not cited by the site's commentary, with Lean certificates this corpus has not built; the site labels the problem OPEN. The claim stays claimed.