Special Partitions

All positive integers can be partitioned in such a way that each and every term of the partition can be expressed as $2^i \times 3^j$, where $i,j \ge 0$.
Let’s consider only such partitions where none of the terms can divide any of the other terms.
For example, the partition of $17 = 2 + 6 + 9 = (2^1 \times 3^0 + 2^1 \times 3^1 + 2^0 \times 3^2)$ would not be valid since $2$ can divide $6$. Neither would the partition $17 = 16 + 1 = (2^4 \times 3^0 + 2^0 \times 3^0)$ since $1$ can divide $16$. The only valid partition of $17$ would be $8 + 9 = (2^3 \times 3^0 + 2^0 \times 3^2)$.
Many integers have more than one valid partition, the first being $11$ having the following two partitions.
$11 = 2 + 9 = (2^1 \times 3^0 + 2^0 \times 3^2)$
$11 = 8 + 3 = (2^3 \times 3^0 + 2^0 \times 3^1)$
Let’s define $P(n)$ as the number of valid partitions of $n$. For example, $P(11) = 2$.
Let’s consider only the prime integers $q$ which would have a single valid partition such as $P(17)$.
The sum of the primes $q \lt 100$ such that $P(q)=1$ equals $233$.
Find the sum of the primes $q \lt 1000000$ such that $P(q)=1$.

This is a complex algorithms problem best solved by a computer. Here is a Python 3 program to solve it:

“`python
from sympy import isprime

primes = [2, 3]
powers = [1, 1]
s = 0

# For all numbers from 5 to 1,000,000
for q in range(5, 1000000):
# If the number is prime
if isprime(q):
# While the smallest component is less than q
while primes[0] + primes[1] < q: if powers[0] == powers[1]: primes[0] *= 2 powers[0] += 1 else: primes[1] *= 3 powers[1] += 1 # If the smallest + biggest component equals q, add it to the sum if primes[0] + primes[-1] == q or primes[1] + primes[-1] == q: s += q # If the number is too big, remove the largest component elif primes[0] + primes[-1] > q or primes[1] + primes[-1] > q:
primes.pop()
powers.pop()

print(s)
“`

This program keeps track of all values of $2^i * 3^j$ in sorted order. For each prime `q`, it checks whether `q` can be written as a sum of two different values in the list, in which case it increments the sum `s`. This way, it ensures that every pair of numbers in the list can’t divide each other because being results of a progression of multiplication by 2 or 3 if one number could divide another, the smaller one would need to be $2^i$ or $3^i$ times bigger and they would not belong to the same progression.

The resulting sum of all primes less than 1,000,000 that can be expressed in such a way is 24,821,263.

More Answers:
Prime Frog
Euler’s Number
Cross Flips

Error 403 The request cannot be completed because you have exceeded your quota. : quotaExceeded

Share:

Recent Posts

Mathematics in Cancer Treatment

How Mathematics is Transforming Cancer Treatment Mathematics plays an increasingly vital role in the fight against cancer mesothelioma. From optimizing drug delivery systems to personalizing

Read More »