For every integer , let be the sum of all primes (strictly) less than . Are there infinitely many integers such that is coprime to ?
Russian Competition
For every integer , let be the sum of all primes (strictly) less than . Are there infinitely many integers such that is coprime to ?
Russian Competition
1. **Define the sequence of primes and the sum :**
Let be the ordered set of primes. For every integer , let be the sum of all primes strictly less than .
2. Assume the contrary:
Suppose there are finitely many integers such that is coprime to . This implies there exists some integer such that for all primes , .
3. **Express in terms of :**
For primes , there exist positive integers such that for all . This implies:
4. **Analyze the sequence :**
Since , the equation implies:
Therefore, . Since is a sequence of positive integers, it must eventually become constant. Let for sufficiently large .
5. Derive a contradiction:
For large , taking and in the equation gives:
and
Combining these, we get:
This implies:
which is a contradiction because the sequence of primes is strictly increasing and .
6. Conclusion:
Since our assumption leads to a contradiction, there must be infinitely many integers such that is coprime to .