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Euclid offered a proof published in his work Elements (Book IX, Proposition 20), [1] which is paraphrased here. [2] Consider any finite list of prime numbers p 1, p 2, ..., p n. It will be shown that there exists at least one additional prime number not included in this list. Let P be the product of all the prime numbers in the list: P = p 1 p ...
For a number of this form to be prime, p itself must also be prime, but not all primes give rise to Mersenne primes in this way. For instance, 2 3 − 1 = 7 is a Mersenne prime, but 2 11 − 1 = 2047 = 23 × 89 is not. The Euclid–Euler theorem states that an even natural number is perfect if and only if it has the form 2 p−1 M p, where M p ...
Both sides of the Euler product formula converge for Re(s) > 1. The proof of Euler's identity uses only the formula for the geometric series and the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Since the harmonic series, obtained when s = 1, diverges, Euler's formula (which becomes Π p p / p − 1 ) implies that there are infinitely many primes. [5]
The method of Eratosthenes used to sieve out prime numbers is employed in this proof. This sketch of a proof makes use of simple algebra only. This was the method by which Euler originally discovered the formula. There is a certain sieving property that we can use to our advantage:
Euler's proof of the infinity of prime numbers makes use of the divergence of the term at the left hand side for s = 1 (the so-called harmonic series), a purely analytic result. Euler was also the first to use analytical arguments for the purpose of studying properties of integers, specifically by constructing generating power series .
This was proved by Leonhard Euler in 1737, [1] and strengthens Euclid's 3rd-century-BC result that there are infinitely many prime numbers and Nicole Oresme's 14th-century proof of the divergence of the sum of the reciprocals of the integers (harmonic series).
Applications of the harmonic series and its partial sums include Euler's proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers, the analysis of the coupon collector's problem on how many random trials are needed to provide a complete range of responses, the connected components of random graphs, the block-stacking problem on how far over the edge ...
In 1736, Leonhard Euler published a proof of Fermat's little theorem [1] (stated by Fermat without proof), which is the restriction of Euler's theorem to the case where n is a prime number. Subsequently, Euler presented other proofs of the theorem, culminating with his paper of 1763, in which he proved a generalization to the case where n is ...