Euclid number

Euclid number

In mathematics, Euclid numbers are integers of the form "E""n" = "p""n"# + 1, where "p""n"# is the primorial of "p""n" which is the "n"th prime. They are named after the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid.

It is sometimes falsely stated that Euclid's celebrated proof of the infinitude of prime numbers relied on these numbers. In fact, Euclid did not begin with the assumption that the set of all primes is finite. Rather, he said: consider any finite set of primes (he did not assume it contained just the first "n" primes, e.g. it could have been {3, 41, 53}) and reasoned from there to the conclusion that at least one prime exists that is not in that set. [cite web|last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Proposition 20 |work= |publisher= |date= |url=http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/bookIX/propIX20.html |format= |doi= |accessdate= |quote = ]

The first few Euclid numbers are 3, 7, 31, 211, 2311, 30031, 510511 OEIS|id=A006862.

It is not known whether or not there are an infinite number of prime Euclid numbers.

"E""6" = 13# + 1 = 30031 = 59 x 509 is the first composite Euclid number, demonstrating that not all Euclid numbers are prime.
A Euclid number can not be a perfect power.

For all "n" ≥ 3 the last digit of "E""n" is 1, since "E""n"−1 is divisible by 2 and 5.

References

See also

* Euclid-Mullin sequence
* Proof of the infinitude of the primes (Euclid's theorem)
* Primorial prime


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