Sociable number

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Divisibility-based
sets of integers
Form of factorization:
Prime number
Composite number
Powerful number
Square-free number
Achilles number
Constrained divisor sums:
Perfect number
Almost perfect number
Quasiperfect number
Multiply perfect number
Hyperperfect number
Unitary perfect number
Semiperfect number
Primitive semiperfect number
Practical number
Numbers with many divisors:
Abundant number
Highly abundant number
Superabundant number
Colossally abundant number
Highly composite number
Superior highly composite number
Other:
Deficient number
Weird number
Amicable number
Sociable number
Sublime number
Harmonic divisor number
See also:
Divisor function
Divisor
Prime factor
Factorization

Sociable numbers are generalizations of the concepts of amicable numbers and perfect numbers. A set of sociable numbers is a kind of aliquot sequence, or a sequence of numbers each of whose numbers is the sum of the factors of the preceding number, excluding the preceding number itself. For the sequence to be sociable, the sequence must be cyclic, eventually returning to its starting point.

The period of the sequence, or order of the set of sociable numbers, is the number of numbers in this cycle.

If the period of the sequence is 1, the number is a sociable number of order 1, or a perfect number—for example, the proper divisors of 6 are 1, 2, and 3, whose sum is again 6. A pair of amicable numbers is a set of sociable numbers of order 2. There are no known sociable numbers of order 3.

It is an open question whether all numbers are either sociable or end up at a prime (and hence 1), or whether conversely there exists a number whose aliquot sequence never terminates.

An example with period 4:

The sum of the proper divisors of 1264460 (22 * 5 * 17 * 3719) is:
1 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 10 + 17 + 20 + 34 + 68 + 85 + 170 + 340 + 3719 + 7438 + 14876 + 18595 + 37190 + 63223 + 74380 + 126446 + 252892 + 316115 + 632230 = 1547860
The sum of the proper divisors of 1547860 (22 * 5 * 193 * 401) is:
1 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 10 + 20 + 193 + 386 + 401 + 772 + 802 + 965 + 1604 + 1930 + 2005 + 3860 + 4010 + 8020 + 77393 + 154786 + 309572 + 386965 + 773930 = 1727636
The sum of the proper divisors of 1727636 (22 * 521 * 829) is:
1 + 2 + 4 + 521 + 829 + 1042 + 1658 + 2084 + 3316 + 431909 + 863818 = 1305184
The sum of the proper divisors of 1305184 (25 * 40787) is:
1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 40787 + 81574 + 163148 + 326296 + 652592 = 1264460.

  • P. Poulet, #4865, L'intermediare des math. 25 (1918), pp. 100-101.
  • H. Cohen, On amicable and sociable numbers, Math. Comp. 24 (1970), pp. 423-429
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