Research notes on every problem, and a library of the papers behind them. Built from the open erdos repository.
Updated
Unit Fractions
E0045/: Asks whether for each k some integer has its nontrivial divisors so arranged that any k-coloring leaves a monochromatic set of reciprocals summing to one.
E0046/: Asks whether every finite coloring of the integers admits a monochromatic set of distinct integers above one whose reciprocals sum to one.
E0047/: Asks whether a subset of the first N integers whose reciprocal sum exceeds a fixed multiple of the logarithm of N has a subset of reciprocals summing to one.
E0148/: Estimates the number of ways to write one as a sum of reciprocals of k distinct increasing positive integers.
E0206/: Asks whether, for almost every positive real number, the best sums of n distinct unit fractions below it are eventually built greedily.
E0242/: Asks whether every integer greater than 2 has four over it written as a sum of three reciprocals of distinct positive integers.
E0282/: Asks whether the greedy algorithm picking the least allowed denominator always terminates for a rational with odd denominator when only odd ones are allowed.
E0283/: Asks whether, for a suitable polynomial, every large integer is the sum of its values over the denominators of some unit fraction representation of one.
E0284/: Asks whether the largest possible smallest denominator among k distinct unit fractions summing to one is asymptotically k divided by e minus one.
E0285/: Asks whether the least possible largest denominator among k distinct unit fractions summing to one is asymptotically e over e minus one, times k.
E0286/: Asks whether k distinct unit fractions summing to one can always be found with all denominators inside an interval of width about e minus one times k.
E0287/: Asks whether distinct denominators above one whose unit fractions sum to one must always include two consecutive ones differing by at least three.
E0288/: Asks whether only finitely many pairs of integer intervals have their combined sum of reciprocals equal to a whole number.
E0289/: Asks whether, for every large k, one can be written as the sum of reciprocals over k separated intervals of integers, each of length at least two.
E0290/: Asks whether extending a block of consecutive reciprocals starting at a by one more term can lower its denominator in lowest terms, and how far one must go.
E0291/: Asks whether the harmonic sum numerator over the least common multiple of one through n is coprime to it infinitely often, and not coprime infinitely often.
E0292/: Asks whether the integers that can occur as the largest denominator in a representation of one by distinct unit fractions have density one.
E0293/: Estimates the growth of the least integer above one that never appears as a denominator in any representation of one as a sum of k distinct unit fractions.
E0294/: Estimates the least starting value t for which one cannot be written as a sum of distinct unit fractions with denominators from t up to N.
E0295/: Asks whether the fewest distinct unit fractions with denominators at least N summing to one exceeds e minus one times N by an amount tending to infinity.
E0296/: Estimates the largest number of disjoint subsets of one through N whose reciprocals each sum to one, and asks whether it is o(log N), of smaller order than log N.
E0297/: Counts the subsets of the integers one through N whose reciprocals sum to one.
E0298/: Asks whether every set of positive integers of positive density contains a finite subset whose reciprocals sum to one.
E0299/: Asks whether some infinite increasing sequence of integers with bounded gaps has no finite subset of reciprocals summing to one.
E0300/: Estimates the size of the largest subset of one through N having no subset whose reciprocals sum to one.
E0301/: Estimates the largest subset of one through N in which no reciprocal is a sum of reciprocals of other distinct members, and asks whether it is about half of N.
E0302/: Estimates the largest subset of one through N with no distinct members where one reciprocal is the sum of two others, and asks whether it is about half of N.
E0303/: Asks whether every finite coloring of the integers has distinct same-colored a, b, c with the reciprocal of a equal to the reciprocal of b plus that of c.
E0304/: Bounds the fewest distinct unit fractions needed to represent any fraction with denominator b, and asks whether it is at most a constant times log log b; answered yes by the OpenAI release's Theorem 1.1 (2026), accepted on Lean.
E0305/: Bounds the least possible largest denominator needed to write any fraction with denominator b by distinct unit fractions, against b times a power of log b.
E0306/: Asks whether every positive rational with squarefree denominator is a sum of distinct unit fractions whose denominators are all products of two distinct primes.
E0307/: Asks whether two finite sets of primes exist whose sums of reciprocals multiply together to give one.
E0308/: The smallest integer not a sum of distinct unit fractions with denominators up to N, and whether the representable integers form an initial segment of integers; corrected to ask, for large N, whether that integer is the floor of the harmonic sum or one more.
E0309/: Counts how many integers are sums of distinct unit fractions with denominators up to N, and asks whether there are only o(log N) of them.
E0310/: Asks whether every subset of one through N of density at least alpha has a subset whose reciprocals sum to a rational with boundedly small denominator.
E0311/: Asks whether the least non-zero distance from one to a subset sum of reciprocals of one through N decays like e to the power of minus a constant times N.
E0312/: Asks whether a large multiset of integers whose reciprocals sum above K always has a subset whose reciprocals sum to at most one but within e to the minus cK.
E0313/: Asks whether infinitely many sums of reciprocals of distinct primes equal one minus the reciprocal of an integer.
E0314/: Asks how small the excess above one can be for reciprocals of consecutive integers from n summed until reaching one, and if n squared times it nears zero.
E0315/: Asks whether every other increasing sequence whose reciprocals sum to one has liminf of its nth term raised to the power one over two to the n below 1.264085.
E0316/: Asks whether a finite set of integers above one whose reciprocals sum to less than two can always be split into two parts each with reciprocal sum below one.
E0317/: Asks whether signs of minus one, zero or one can always make the signed sum of reciprocals up to n non-zero yet smaller than a constant over two to the n.
E0318/: Asks whether every non-constant assignment of plus and minus one on an arithmetic progression has a finite subset whose signed reciprocals sum to zero.
E0319/: The size of the largest subset of one through N carrying signs whose signed reciprocals sum to zero while no proper non-empty subset sums to zero.
E0320/: Estimates how many distinct values arise as sums of reciprocals of subsets of the integers one through N.
E0321/: The largest subset of the first N integers all of whose subsets have distinct sums of reciprocals.
E0327/: Asks how large a subset of the first N integers can be if the sum of any two distinct members never divides their product, or never divides twice it.
E0355/: Asks whether some sequence growing at least geometrically has finite sums of reciprocals of its terms covering every rational in some open interval.
Egyptian fractions and reciprocal sums, including the Erdos-Straus conjecture and the Erdos-Graham problems on representing rationals as sums of unit fractions.
Site tags routed here: number theory, ramsey theory, unit fractions.