An iteration on the prime factors of a number

Lakshmi, R. Rohini (2016) An iteration on the prime factors of a number. At Right Angles, 5 (3). pp. 28-29. ISSN 2582-1873

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Abstract

In this short note I study the behaviour of a function f defined in the positive integers exceeding 1 (namely, the set {2, 3, 4, 5,...}), when it is applied over and over again on itself. Here is its definition. Given a positive integer n > 1, we compute f(n) as follows. First, we check whether n is prime or composite. If n is prime, then f(n) = n + 1. If n is composite, then we set f(n) to be equal to the sum of all the prime numbers which divide n, each prime number being added as many times as it divides n.

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Articles in APF Magazines

Authors:

Lakshmi, R. Rohini

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