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Lucky Number of Euler


A lucky number of Euler is an integer p>1 such that the prime-generating polynomial

 n^2-n+p

is prime for n=1, 2, ..., p-1. Such numbers are related to imaginary quadratic fields whose rings of integers are unique factorization domains. Specifically, p is a lucky number of Euler iff 4p-1 is squarefree and the imaginary quadratic field Q(sqrt(1-4p)) has class number 1 (Rabinowitz 1913, Le Lionnais 1983, Conway and Guy 1996, Granville and Mollin 2000, Ribenboim 2000).

As proved by Heegner (1952)--although his proof was not accepted as complete at the time--and subsequently established by Stark (1967), among positive squarefree integers d, the imaginary quadratic field Q(sqrt(-d)) has class number 1 for exactly the nine Heegner numbers d=1, 2, 3, 7, 11, 19, 43, 67, and 163. Of these, precisely 7, 11, 19, 43, 67, and 163 have the form 4p-1 with p>1. Therefore, the only lucky numbers of Euler are 2, 3, 5, 11, 17, and 41 (Le Lionnais 1983, OEIS A014556), and the longest initial run of prime values among these prime-generating polynomials has 40 terms, attained at p=41.


See also

Class Number, Gauss's Class Number Problem, Heegner Number, Prime-Generating Polynomial

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References

Bailey, D. H.; Borwein, J. M.; Calkin, N. J.; Girgensohn, R.; Luke, D. R.; and Moll, V. H. Experimental Mathematics in Action. Wellesley, MA: A K Peters, p. 13, 2007.Conway, J. H. and Guy, R. K. "The Nine Magic Discriminants." In The Book of Numbers. New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 224-226, 1996.Granville, A. and Mollin, R. A. "Rabinowitsch Revisited." Acta Arith. 96, 139-153, 2000. https://doi.org/10.4064/aa96-2-3.Heegner, K. "Diophantische Analysis und Modulfunktionen." Math. Z. 56, 227-253, 1952.Le Lionnais, F. Les nombres remarquables. Paris, France: Hermann, pp. 88 and 144, 1983.Meyer, C. "Bemerkungen zum Satz von Heegner-Stark über die imaginär-quadratischen Zahlkörper mit der Klassenzahl Eins." J. reine angew. Math. 242, 179-214, 1970.Rabinowitz, G. "Eindeutigkeit der Zerlegung in Primzahlfaktoren in quadratischen Zahlkörpern." Proc. Fifth Internat. Congress Math. (Cambridge) 1, 418-421, 1913.Ribenboim, P. My Numbers, My Friends. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2000.Sloane, N. J. A. Sequence A014556 in "The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences."Stark, H. M. "A Complete Determination of the Complex Quadratic Fields of Class Number One." Michigan Math. J. 14, 1-27, 1967.

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Lucky Number of Euler

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Lucky Number of Euler." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/LuckyNumberofEuler.html

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