Erdős Problem #26

DeepMind prover agent produced a solution (6 Apr 2026), but a comparable result was already in the literature: Ruzsa.

Problem
Erdős problem #26 (number theory, divisors); current status: disproved (Lean)
Credit
DeepMind prover agent · AI building on known literature
Checked
Listed in Tao's wiki
Timeline
First AI contribution 2026-04-06 · wiki data as of 2026-06-30
Sources
Problem page (erdosproblems.com)Tao's AI-contributions wiki
PRIOR
ART
Per Tao's AI-contributions wiki

The problem

Let A⊂NA\subset\mathbb{N} be infinite. Must there exist some k≥1k\geq 1 such that almost all integers have a divisor of the form a+ka+k for some a∈Aa\in A?

Statement quoted from erdosproblems.com/26, maintained by Thomas Bloom. Original source: [Er95,p.167]. Current status there: disproved (Lean).

AI contributions

As recorded in Terence Tao's wiki AI contributions to Erdős problems (data as of 30 Jun 2026). 🟢 full, 🟡 partial, ⚪ unverified, 🔴 incorrect.

Date Kind AI systems Outcome Literature
6 Apr, 2026 AI building on known literature DeepMind prover agent 🟢 Solution to stronger problem 🟢 Ruzsa

Caveats

The wiki's classifications are provisional and are not a benchmark. Many Erdős problems have never had a thorough literature review, so a result that looks new may later turn out to be known; some problems were also stated ambiguously or incorrectly. See the problem page for the full discussion.

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