/- Copyright 2025 The Formal Conjectures Authors. Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. -/ import FormalConjecturesUtil

Erdős Problem 686

References:

    erdosproblems.com/686

    [Er79d] Erdős, P., Some unconventional problems in number theory. Acta Math. Acad. Sci. Hungar. (1979), 71-80.

namespace Erdos686

Can every integer $N≥2$ be written as $$N=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(n+i)}$$ for some $k≥2$ and $m≥n+k$?

@[category research open, AMS 11] theorem erdos_686 : answer(sorry) N (2 : ), ∃ᵉ (k 2) (n : ) (m n + k), (N : ) = ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) := True N 2, k 2, n, m n + k, N = (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) All goals completed! 🐙

Can every square $N≥2$ be written as $$N=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(n+i)}$$ for some $k≥2$ and $m≥n+k$?

@[category research open, AMS 11] theorem erdos_686.variants.square : answer(sorry) N (2 : ), (IsSquare N) ∃ᵉ (k 2) (n : ) (m n + k), (N : ) = ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) := True N 2, IsSquare N k 2, n, m n + k, N = (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) All goals completed! 🐙

Can $4$ be written as $$4=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(n+i)}$$ for some $k≥2$ and $m≥n+k$?

@[category research open, AMS 11] theorem erdos_686.variants.four : answer(sorry) ∃ᵉ (k 2) (n : ) (m n + k), (4 : ) = ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) := True k 2, n, m n + k, 4 = (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) All goals completed! 🐙

The number $4$ cannot be written as $$4=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq 2}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq 2}(n+i)}$$ for $m≥n+2$!

n:m:hm:m n + 2h:4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)h':4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)False n:m:hm:m n + 2h:4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)h':4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)hc:m < 2 * (n + 1)Falsen:m:hm:m n + 2h:4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)h':4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)hc:¬m < 2 * (n + 1)False n:m:hm:m n + 2h:4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)h':4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)hc:m < 2 * (n + 1)Falsen:m:hm:m n + 2h:4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)h':4 * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (m + 1) * (m + 2)hc:¬m < 2 * (n + 1)False All goals completed! 🐙

The number $4$ cannot be written as $$4=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq 3}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq 3}(n+i)}$$ for $m≥n+3$!

See comment section on erdosproblems.com

@[category research solved, AMS 11] theorem erdos_686.variants.four_three : ¬ ∃ᵉ (n : ) (m n + 3), (4 : ) = ( i Finset.Icc 1 3, (m + i)) / ( i Finset.Icc 1 3, (n + i)) := ¬ n, m n + 3, 4 = (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 3, (m + i)) / (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 3, (n + i)) All goals completed! 🐙

Can $9$ be written as $$9=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(n+i)}$$ for some $k≥2$ and $m≥n+k$?

@[category research solved, AMS 11] theorem erdos_686.variants.nine : answer(True) ∃ᵉ (k 2) (n : ) (m n + k), (9 : ) = ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) := True k 2, n, m n + k, 9 = (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) -- Witness: k = 3, n = 11, m = 25, since (26·27·28)/(12·13·14) = 19656/2184 = 9. k 2, n, m n + k, 9 = (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) refine 3, 3 2 All goals completed! 🐙, 11, 25, 25 11 + 3 All goals completed! 🐙, ?_ All goals completed! 🐙

Can $25$ be written as $$25=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(n+i)}$$ for some $k≥2$ and $m≥n+k$?

@[category research open, AMS 11] theorem erdos_686.variants.twenty_five : answer(sorry) ∃ᵉ (k 2) (n : ) (m n + k), (25 : ) = ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / ( i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) := True k 2, n, m n + k, 25 = (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (m + i)) / (∏ i Finset.Icc 1 k, (n + i)) All goals completed! 🐙

Can every non-square $N≥2$ be written as $$N=\frac{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(m+i)}{\prod_{1\leq i\leq k}(n+i)}$$ for some $k≥2$ and $m≥n+k$?

All goals completed! 🐙)) (x✝²:TrueN:hN_ge_2:N 2hN_not_square:¬IsSquare NhN_not_square':¬ s, s * s = Nh:¬{n | k, N * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (k + 1) * (k + 2)}.Nonemptyx✝¹:¬IsSquare (N * 4) x y, x ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0and✝:x✝: y, and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0A:B:and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * A ^ 2 = 1right✝:A 0and:and✝.natAbs ^ 2 = 1 + N * 4 * A.natAbs ^ 2l:hl:and✝.natAbs = l + l¬1 + N * A.natAbs ^ 2 * 4 = l * (l + l) + l * (l + l) All goals completed! 🐙) match a with x✝²:TrueN:hN_ge_2:N 2hN_not_square:¬IsSquare NhN_not_square':¬ s, s * s = Nh:¬{n | k, N * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (k + 1) * (k + 2)}.Nonemptyx✝¹:¬IsSquare (N * 4) x y, x ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0and✝:x✝: y, and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0A:B:and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * A ^ 2 = 1right✝:A 0and:and✝.natAbs ^ 2 = 1 + N * 4 * A.natAbs ^ 2a:ha:and✝.natAbs = 2 * 0 + 1{n | k, N * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (k + 1) * (k + 2)}.Nonempty All goals completed! 🐙 x✝²:TrueN:hN_ge_2:N 2hN_not_square:¬IsSquare NhN_not_square':¬ s, s * s = Nh:¬{n | k, N * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (k + 1) * (k + 2)}.Nonemptyx✝¹:¬IsSquare (N * 4) x y, x ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0and✝:x✝: y, and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0A:B:and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * A ^ 2 = 1right✝:A 0and:and✝.natAbs ^ 2 = 1 + N * 4 * A.natAbs ^ 2a:S:ha:and✝.natAbs = 2 * (S + 1) + 1{n | k, N * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (k + 1) * (k + 2)}.Nonempty use A.natAbs + S, N * A.natAbs + S, x✝²:TrueN:hN_ge_2:N 2hN_not_square:¬IsSquare NhN_not_square':¬ s, s * s = Nh:¬{n | k, N * ((n + 1) * (n + 2)) = (k + 1) * (k + 2)}.Nonemptyx✝¹:¬IsSquare (N * 4) x y, x ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0and✝:x✝: y, and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * y ^ 2 = 1 y 0A:B:and✝ ^ 2 - N * 4 * A ^ 2 = 1right✝:A 0and:and✝.natAbs ^ 2 = 1 + N * 4 * A.natAbs ^ 2a:S:ha:and✝.natAbs = 2 * (S + 1) + 1N * ((A.natAbs + S + 1) * (A.natAbs + S + 2)) = (N * A.natAbs + S + 1) * (N * A.natAbs + S + 2) All goals completed! 🐙 All goals completed! 🐙-- TODO: also formalize the follow-up question: -- “If $n$ and $k$ are fixed then can one say anything about the set of integers so represented?” end Erdos686