Number Theory – Finite Set of Distinct Naturals Whose Reciprocals Sum to 1

egyptian-fractionselementary-number-theoryprime numbers

I'll try to state this formally, forgive me if I botch the notation. Let

$$R=\{n : n+1 \in\mathbb{P}\}.$$ (Where $\mathbb{P}$ is the set of primes)

Then the question is,

$$\exists S \subset (\mathbb{N} \setminus R)\text{ for }s\text{ of finite length, such that }\sum_{s\in S}{\frac{1}{s}}=1 ?$$

It is not hard to find finite subsets of $\mathbb{N}$ whose reciprocals sum to $1$, such as the trivial $\{1\}$, or $\{2,3,6\}$. I suspect that there are infinitely many finite subsets of $R$ with this property, such as $\{2,4,6,12\}$ or $\{2,4,6,18,36\}$.

However, I couldn't find any valid $S$ with a quick search through small numbers, and I'm wondering if it's known whether such a set exists.

Best Answer

We can use the formula $$ \frac1n = \frac1{n+1} + \frac1{n(n+1)} $$ to obtain such a sum. Start with $$ 1 = \frac12 + \frac14 + \frac18 + \frac18 $$ Now, for $n=8$ we can rewrite the last term as $$ \frac18=\frac19+\frac{1}{72} $$ Since $72+1$ is a prime, we have to iterate this, i.e., $$ \frac18=\frac19+\frac{1}{73}+\frac{1}{5256}. $$ Similarly $$ \frac12=\frac13+\frac17+\frac{1}{43}+\frac{1}{1806} $$ and $$ \frac14=\frac15+\frac{1}{20}. $$ Together we obtain $$ 1=\left(\frac13+\frac17+\frac{1}{43}+\frac{1}{1806}\right)+\left(\frac15+\frac{1}{20}\right)+\frac18+\left(\frac19+\frac{1}{73}+\frac{1}{5256}\right). $$ All denominators plus one are not prime numbers.

Related Question