THE SEARCH FOR PERFECT

NUMBERS
DEFINITION 10.1

A positive integer n is said to be perfect if n is equal

to the sum of all its positive divisors, excluding n itself.
The sum of the positive divisors of an integer n, each of
them less than n, is given by 𝜎 𝑛 − 𝑛. Thus, the condition “n
is perfect” amounts to asking that 𝜎 𝑛 − 𝑛 = 𝑛 , or
equivalently, that
𝜎 𝑛 = 2𝑛.
EXAMPLE

•𝜎 6 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 6 = 2 ∙ 6
• 𝜎 28 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 + 28 = 2 ∙ 28

Hence, 6 and 28 are perfect numbers.

Only four perfect numbers are known to the ancient
Greeks. Nicomachus in his Introductio Arithmeticae
lists

𝑃1 = 6, 𝑃2 = 28, 𝑃3 = 496 and 𝑃4 = 8128

CONJECTURES (BASED ON THE KNOWN PERFECT
NUMBERS)

• The nth perfect number Pn contains exactly n digits;

and
• The even perfect numbers end, alternatively, in 6
and 8.
Both assertions are wrong, because there is no
perfect number with 5 digits. The next perfect
number 𝑃5 = 33,550,336 have 8 digits. The
next perfect number 𝑃6 = 8,589,869,056, ends
also in 6, not 8 as conjectured.
Euclid partially proved in his book that if the
2 𝑘−1
sum 1 + 2 + 2 + ⋯ + 2 = 𝑝 is a prime
𝑘−1
number, then 2 𝑝 is a perfect number. For
instance, 1+2+4=7 is prime, hence 4 ∙ 7 = 28
is a perfect number.
Theorem 10.1.
If 2𝑘 − 1 is prime (k>1), then 𝑛 = 2𝑘−1 (2𝑘 − 1) is
perfect and every even perfect number is of this form.

Lemma.
If 𝑎𝑘 − 1 is prime (a>0, k≥2), then a=2 and k is also
prime.
Examples:
For p=2, 3, 5, 7, 13, 17, the values 3, 7, 31, 127, 8191, 131071 of
2𝑝 − 1 are primes, so that
2 22 − 1 = 6
22 23 − 1 = 28
24 25 − 1 = 496
26 27 − 1 = 8128
212 213 − 1 = 33,550,336
216 217 − 1 = 8,589,869,056
are all perfect numbers.
 Seventh Perfect Number
218 219 − 1 = 137,438,691,328

Eighth Perfect Number

230 231 − 1 = 2,305,843,008,139,952,128
FUN FACT:

The largest perfect number as January 2016 is

74207280 74207281
2 (2 − 1)
with 44,677,235 digits.
It is not yet known whether there are infinitely
many perfect numbers.