Resolving Adenwalla's conjecture related to a question of Erd\H{o}s and Graham about covering systems

Erd\H{o}s and Graham posed the question of whether there exists an integer $n$ such that the divisors of $n$ greater than $1$ form a distinct covering system with pairwise coprime moduli for overlapping congruences. Adenwalla recently proved no such $n$ exists, introducing the concept of nice integers, those where such a system exists without necessarily covering all integers. Moreover, Adenwalla established a necessary condition for nice integers: if $n$ is nice and $p$ is its smallest prime divisor, then $n/p$ must have fewer than $p$ distinct prime factors. Adenwalla conjectured this condition is also sufficient. In this paper, we resolve this conjecture affirmatively by developing a novel constructive framework for residue assignments. Utilizing a hierarchical application of the Chinese Remainder Theorem, we demonstrate that every integer satisfying the condition indeed admits a good set of congruences. Our result completes the characterization of nice integers, resolving an interesting open problem in combinatorial number theory.

Publication Details

Journal
ArXiv.org
Published
2025-04-13
Primary Topic
Analytic Number Theory Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Resolving Adenwalla's conjecture related to a question of Erd\H{o}s and Graham about covering systems

ArXiv.org
Analytic Number Theory Research
article

Resolving Adenwalla's conjecture related to a question of Erd\H{o}s and Graham about covering systems

article en

Abstract

Erd\H{o}s and Graham posed the question of whether there exists an integer $n$ such that the divisors of $n$ greater than $1$ form a distinct covering system with pairwise coprime moduli for overlapping congruences. Adenwalla recently proved no such $n$ exists, introducing the concept of nice integers, those where such a system exists without necessarily covering all integers. Moreover, Adenwalla established a necessary condition for nice integers: if $n$ is nice and $p$ is its smallest prime divisor, then $n/p$ must have fewer than $p$ distinct prime factors. Adenwalla conjectured this condition is also sufficient. In this paper, we resolve this conjecture affirmatively by developing a novel constructive framework for residue assignments. Utilizing a hierarchical application of the Chinese Remainder Theorem, we demonstrate that every integer satisfying the condition indeed admits a good set of congruences. Our result completes the characterization of nice integers, resolving an interesting open problem in combinatorial number theory.

ArXiv.org
Openalex Percentile: Top 38%
Analytic Number Theory Research
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.