Definition
The base-''b'' repunits are defined as (this ''b'' can be either positive or negative) : Thus, the number ''R''''n''(''b'') consists of ''n'' copies of the digit 1 in base-''b'' representation. The first two repunits base-''b'' for ''n'' = 1 and ''n'' = 2 are : In particular, the ''Properties
* Any repunit in any base having a composite number of digits is necessarily composite. Only repunits (in any base) having a prime number of digits might be prime. This is a necessary but not sufficient condition. For example, *: ''R''35(''b'') = = 11111 × 1000010000100001000010000100001 = 1111111 × 10000001000000100000010000001, :since 35 = 7 × 5 = 5 × 7. This repunit factorization does not depend on the base-''b'' in which the repunit is expressed. * If ''p'' is an odd prime, then every prime ''q'' that divides ''R''''p''(''b'') must be either 1 plus a multiple of 2''p,'' or a factor of ''b'' − 1. For example, a prime factor of ''R''29 is 62003 = 1 + 2·29·1069. The reason is that the prime ''p'' is the smallest exponent greater than 1 such that ''q'' divides ''bp'' − 1, because ''p'' is prime. Therefore, unless ''q'' divides ''b'' − 1, ''p'' divides the Carmichael function of ''q'', which is even and equal to ''q'' − 1. *Any positive multiple of the repunit ''R''''n''(''b'') contains at least ''n'' nonzero digits in base-''b''. * Any number ''x'' is a two-digit repunit in base x − 1. * The only known numbers that are repunits with at least 3 digits in more than one base simultaneously are 31 (111 in base-5, 11111 in base-2) and 8191 (111 in base-90, 1111111111111 in base-2). The Goormaghtigh conjecture says there are only these two cases. * Using theFactorization of decimal repunits
(Prime factors colored means "new factors", i. e. the prime factor divides ''R''''n'' but does not divide ''R''''k'' for all ''k'' < ''n'') Smallest prime factor of ''R''''n'' for ''n'' > 1 are :11, 3, 11, 41, 3, 239, 11, 3, 11, 21649, 3, 53, 11, 3, 11, 2071723, 3, 1111111111111111111, 11, 3, 11, 11111111111111111111111, 3, 41, 11, 3, 11, 3191, 3, 2791, 11, 3, 11, 41, 3, 2028119, 11, 3, 11, 83, 3, 173, 11, 3, 11, 35121409, 3, 239, 11, ...Repunit primes
The definition of repunits was motivated by recreational mathematicians looking for prime factors of such numbers. It is easy to show that if ''n'' is divisible by ''a'', then ''R''''n''(''b'') is divisible by ''R''''a''(''b''): : where is the cyclotomic polynomial and ''d'' ranges over the divisors of ''n''. For ''p'' prime, : which has the expected form of a repunit when ''x'' is substituted with ''b''. For example, 9 is divisible by 3, and thus ''R''9 is divisible by ''R''3—in fact, 111111111 = 111 · 1001001. The corresponding cyclotomic polynomials and are and , respectively. Thus, for ''R''''n'' to be prime, ''n'' must necessarily be prime, but it is not sufficient for ''n'' to be prime. For example, ''R''3 = 111 = 3 · 37 is not prime. Except for this case of ''R''3, ''p'' can only divide ''R''''n'' for prime ''n'' if ''p'' = 2''kn'' + 1 for some ''k''.Decimal repunit primes
''R''''n'' is prime for ''n'' = 2, 19, 23, 317, 1031, 49081 ... (sequence A004023 in OEIS). ''R''86453 is probably prime. On April 3, 2007 Harvey Dubner (who also found ''R''49081) announced that ''R''109297 is a probable prime. On July 15, 2007, Maksym Voznyy announced ''R''270343 to be probably prime. Serge Batalov and Ryan Propper found ''R''5794777 and ''R''8177207 to be probable primes on April 20 and May 8, 2021, respectively. As of their discovery each was the largest known probable prime. On March 22, 2022 probable prime ''R''49081 was eventually proven to be a prime. It has been conjectured that there are infinitely many repunit primes and they seem to occur roughly as often as theBase 2 repunit primes
Base-2 repunit primes are calledBase 3 repunit primes
The first few base-3 repunit primes are : 13, 1093, 797161, 3754733257489862401973357979128773, 6957596529882152968992225251835887181478451547013 , corresponding to of : 3, 7, 13, 71, 103, 541, 1091, 1367, 1627, 4177, 9011, 9551, ... .Base 4 repunit primes
The only base-4 repunit prime is 5 (). , and 3 always divides when ''n'' is odd and when ''n'' is even. For ''n'' greater than 2, both and are greater than 3, so removing the factor of 3 still leaves two factors greater than 1. Therefore, the number cannot be prime.Base 5 repunit primes
The first few base-5 repunit primes are : 31, 19531, 12207031, 305175781, 177635683940025046467781066894531, 14693679385278593849609206715278070972733319459651094018859396328480215743184089660644531, 35032461608120426773093239582247903282006548546912894293926707097244777067146515037165954709053039550781, 815663058499815565838786763657068444462645532258620818469829556933715405574685778402862015856733535201783524826169013977050781 , corresponding to of : 3, 7, 11, 13, 47, 127, 149, 181, 619, 929, 3407, ... .Base 6 repunit primes
The first few base-6 repunit primes are : 7, 43, 55987, 7369130657357778596659, 3546245297457217493590449191748546458005595187661976371, 133733063818254349335501779590081460423013416258060407531857720755181857441961908284738707408499507 , corresponding to of : 2, 3, 7, 29, 71, 127, 271, 509, 1049, 6389, 6883, ... .Base 7 repunit primes
The first few base-7 repunit primes are : 2801, 16148168401, 85053461164796801949539541639542805770666392330682673302530819774105141531698707146930307290253537320447270457,Base 8 repunit primes
The only base-8 repunit prime is 73 (). , and 7 divides when ''n'' is not divisible by 3 and when ''n'' is a multiple of 3.Base 9 repunit primes
There are no base-9 repunit primes. , and both and are even and greater than 4.Base 11 repunit primes
The first few base-11 repunit primes are : 50544702849929377, 6115909044841454629, 1051153199500053598403188407217590190707671147285551702341089650185945215953, 567000232521795739625828281267171344486805385881217575081149660163046217465544573355710592079769932651989153833612198334843467861091902034340949 corresponding to of : 17, 19, 73, 139, 907, 1907, 2029, 4801, 5153, 10867, ... .Base 12 repunit primes
The first few base-12 repunit primes are : 13, 157, 22621, 29043636306420266077, 43570062353753446053455610056679740005056966111842089407838902783209959981593077811330507328327968191581, 388475052482842970801320278964160171426121951256610654799120070705613530182445862582590623785872890159937874339918941 corresponding to of : 2, 3, 5, 19, 97, 109, 317, 353, 701, 9739, ... .Base 20 repunit primes
The first few base-20 repunit primes are : 421, 10778947368421, 689852631578947368421 corresponding to of : 3, 11, 17, 1487, ... .Bases ''b'' such that ''Rp''(b) is prime for prime ''p''
Smallest base such that is prime (where is the th prime) are :2, 2, 2, 2, 5, 2, 2, 2, 10, 6, 2, 61, 14, 15, 5, 24, 19, 2, 46, 3, 11, 22, 41, 2, 12, 22, 3, 2, 12, 86, 2, 7, 13, 11, 5, 29, 56, 30, 44, 60, 304, 5, 74, 118, 33, 156, 46, 183, 72, 606, 602, 223, 115, 37, 52, 104, 41, 6, 338, 217, 13, 136, 220, 162, 35, 10, 218, 19, 26, 39, 12, 22, 67, 120, 195, 48, 54, 463, 38, 41, 17, 808, 404, 46, 76, 793, 38, 28, 215, 37, 236, 59, 15, 514, 260, 498, 6, 2, 95, 3, ... Smallest base such that is prime (where is the th prime) are :3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 7, 2, 16, 61, 2, 6, 10, 6, 2, 5, 46, 18, 2, 49, 16, 70, 2, 5, 6, 12, 92, 2, 48, 89, 30, 16, 147, 19, 19, 2, 16, 11, 289, 2, 12, 52, 2, 66, 9, 22, 5, 489, 69, 137, 16, 36, 96, 76, 117, 26, 3, 159, 10, 16, 209, 2, 16, 23, 273, 2, 460, 22, 3, 36, 28, 329, 43, 69, 86, 271, 396, 28, 83, 302, 209, 11, 300, 159, 79, 31, 331, 52, 176, 3, 28, 217, 14, 410, 252, 718, 164, ...List of repunit primes base ''b''
Smallest prime such that is prime are (start with , 0 if no such exists) :3, 3, 0, 3, 3, 5, 3, 0, 19, 17, 3, 5, 3, 3, 0, 3, 25667, 19, 3, 3, 5, 5, 3, 0, 7, 3, 5, 5, 5, 7, 0, 3, 13, 313, 0, 13, 3, 349, 5, 3, 1319, 5, 5, 19, 7, 127, 19, 0, 3, 4229, 103, 11, 3, 17, 7, 3, 41, 3, 7, 7, 3, 5, 0, 19, 3, 19, 5, 3, 29, 3, 7, 5, 5, 3, 41, 3, 3, 5, 3, 0, 23, 5, 17, 5, 11, 7, 61, 3, 3, 4421, 439, 7, 5, 7, 3343, 17, 13, 3, 0, ... Smallest prime such that is prime are (start with , 0 if no such exists, question mark if this term is currently unknown) :3, 3, 3, 5, 3, 3, 0, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3, 7, 3, 3, 7, 3, 17, 5, 3, 3, 11, 7, 3, 11, 0, 3, 7, 139, 109, 0, 5, 3, 11, 31, 5, 5, 3, 53, 17, 3, 5, 7, 103, 7, 5, 5, 7, 1153, 3, 7, 21943, 7, 3, 37, 53, 3, 17, 3, 7, 11, 3, 0, 19, 7, 3, 757, 11, 3, 5, 3, 7, 13, 5, 3, 37, 3, 3, 5, 3, 293, 19, 7, 167, 7, 7, 709, 13, 3, 3, 37, 89, 71, 43, 37, ?, 19, 7, 3, ... * Repunits with negative base and even ''n'' are negative. If their absolute value is prime then they are included above and marked with an asterisk. They are not included in the corresponding OEIS sequences. For more information, see.Algebra factorization of generalized repunit numbers
If ''b'' is a perfect power (can be written as ''m''''n'', with ''m'', ''n'' integers, ''n'' > 1) differs from 1, then there is at most one repunit in base-''b''. If ''n'' is a prime power (can be written as ''p''''r'', with ''p'' prime, ''r'' integer, ''p'', ''r'' >0), then all repunit in base-''b'' are not prime aside from ''Rp'' and ''R2''. ''Rp'' can be either prime or composite, the former examples, ''b'' = −216, −128, 4, 8, 16, 27, 36, 100, 128, 256, etc., the latter examples, ''b'' = −243, −125, −64, −32, −27, −8, 9, 25, 32, 49, 81, 121, 125, 144, 169, 196, 216, 225, 243, 289, etc., and ''R2'' can be prime (when ''p'' differs from 2) only if ''b'' is negative, a power of −2, for example, ''b'' = −8, −32, −128, −8192, etc., in fact, the ''R2'' can also be composite, for example, ''b'' = −512, −2048, −32768, etc. If ''n'' is not a prime power, then no base-''b'' repunit prime exists, for example, ''b'' = 64, 729 (with ''n'' = 6), ''b'' = 1024 (with ''n'' = 10), and ''b'' = −1 or 0 (with ''n'' any natural number). Another special situation is ''b'' = −4''k''4, with ''k'' positive integer, which has the aurifeuillean factorization, for example, ''b'' = −4 (with ''k'' = 1, then ''R2'' and ''R3'' are primes), and ''b'' = −64, −324, −1024, −2500, −5184, ... (with ''k'' = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ...), then no base-''b'' repunit prime exists. It is also conjectured that when ''b'' is neither a perfect power nor −4''k''4 with ''k'' positive integer, then there are infinity many base-''b'' repunit primes.The generalized repunit conjecture
A conjecture related to the generalized repunit primes: (the conjecture predicts where is the next generalized Mersenne prime, if the conjecture is true, then there are infinitely many repunit primes for all bases ) For any integer , which satisfies the conditions: # . # is not a perfect power. (since when is a perfect th power, it can be shown that there is at most one value such that is prime, and this value is itself or a root of ) # is not in the form . (if so, then the number has aurifeuillean factorization) has generalized repunit primes of the form : for prime , the prime numbers will be distributed near the best fit line : where limit , and there are about : base-''b'' repunit primes less than ''N''. * is the base of natural logarithm. * is Euler–Mascheroni constant. * is theHistory
Although they were not then known by that name, repunits in base-10 were studied by many mathematicians during the nineteenth century in an effort to work out and predict the cyclic patterns of repeating decimals. It was found very early on that for any prime ''p'' greater than 5, the period of the decimal expansion of 1/''p'' is equal to the length of the smallest repunit number that is divisible by ''p''. Tables of the period of reciprocal of primes up to 60,000 had been published by 1860 and permitted the factorization by such mathematicians as Reuschle of all repunits up to ''R16'' and many larger ones. By 1880, even ''R17'' to ''R36'' had been factored and it is curious that, though Édouard Lucas showed no prime below three million had period nineteen, there was no attempt to test any repunit for primality until early in the twentieth century. The American mathematician Oscar Hoppe proved ''R19'' to be prime in 1916 and Lehmer and Kraitchik independently found ''R23'' to be prime in 1929. Further advances in the study of repunits did not occur until the 1960s, when computers allowed many new factors of repunits to be found and the gaps in earlier tables of prime periods corrected. ''R317'' was found to be a probable prime circa 1966 and was proved prime eleven years later, when ''R1031'' was shown to be the only further possible prime repunit with fewer than ten thousand digits. It was proven prime in 1986, but searches for further prime repunits in the following decade consistently failed. However, there was a major side-development in the field of generalized repunits, which produced a large number of new primes and probable primes. Since 1999, four further probably prime repunits have been found, but it is unlikely that any of them will be proven prime in the foreseeable future because of their huge size. The Cunningham project endeavours to document the integer factorizations of (among other numbers) the repunits to base 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12.Demlo numbers
D. R. Kaprekar has defined Demlo numbers as concatenation of a left, middle and right part, where the left and right part must be of the same length (up to a possible leading zero to the left) and must add up to a repdigit number, and the middle part may contain any additional number of this repeated digit. They are named after Demlo railway station (now called Dombivili) 30 miles from Bombay on the thenSee also
* All one polynomial — Another generalization * Goormaghtigh conjecture * Repeating decimal * Repdigit * Wagstaff prime — can be thought of as repunit primes with negative baseFootnotes
Notes
References
References
* * * * * * * * *External links
*