Are There Any Conjectures About the Primality of n and n!+1?

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The discussion revolves around conjectures regarding the primality of n and n!+1, specifically that for all integers n, if n is not prime, then n! is not prime, and similarly for n!+1. The contributor expresses difficulty in finding existing research on these conjectures and is experimenting with them using Matlab. There is clarification that using "not prime" and "composite" are logically equivalent terms. Additionally, it is noted that n! is never prime for n greater than 2, and there are references to Wilson's Theorem and Bertrand's Postulate as related mathematical concepts. The conversation highlights the interest in exploring these conjectures further, suggesting potential avenues for investigation.
Entropee
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I'm not sure if these have been looked into extensively (they probably have, I just have a hard time finding them), but I was just wondering about a couple conjectures I thought up and tested by hand for a bit. Matlab can't run it for very long. Let me know if anyone finds a contradiction or if there are any links to more information about these.

\foralln\epsilonintegers, n is not prime (n! is not prime)
\foralln\epsilonintegers, n is not prime ((n!+1) is not prime)

Also I'm new to proofs and this method of formatting, I'm just playing around with these for fun so let me know if I have my notation wrong. I couldn't find the correct capital Z that stands for integers. Also should I say n is composite or should I say n is not prime? Does it matter?
 
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Entropee said:
I'm not sure if these have been looked into extensively (they probably have, I just have a hard time finding them), but I was just wondering about a couple conjectures I thought up and tested by hand for a bit. Matlab can't run it for very long. Let me know if anyone finds a contradiction or if there are any links to more information about these.

\foralln\epsilonintegers, n is not prime (n! is not prime)
\foralln\epsilonintegers, n is not prime ((n!+1) is not prime)

Also I'm new to proofs and this method of formatting, I'm just playing around with these for fun so let me know if I have my notation wrong. I couldn't find the correct capital Z that stands for integers. Also should I say n is composite or should I say n is not prime? Does it matter?

\forall n \epsilon natural numbers, n is not prime → n! is not prime

By the way, in graduate school in mathematics I was instructed not to use logic notation on homework. They wanted English.

I would avoid integers for this sort of thing. It complicates the issue and does you no good.

> Does it matter?

No. They are exactly the same. A natural number is composite if and only if it is not prime. So they are logically completely equivalent.
 
Notice that n! is never a prime for n>2 : n!:= n(n-1)...2.1

If n is of the type p-1 , (with p a prime) , then you're right, e.g., using Wilson's Theorem,

which says that (p-1)!== 1(modp) , so that (p-1)!+1 == 0(modp);

notice 4!+1 is divisible by 5 ; 6!+1 is div. by 7 . But I don't know

otherwise.

I think you may find this one interesting: show n! is never a perfect square for n>1

(Hint: Bertrand's Postulate --actually a .theorem now )

Maybe you can experiment with Wolfram: http://www.wolframalpha.com/

EDIT: look at the page: http://primes.utm.edu/glossary/xpage/FactorialPrime.html

Nice conjecture, tho, the smallest counter is 116.
 
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I was reading documentation about the soundness and completeness of logic formal systems. Consider the following $$\vdash_S \phi$$ where ##S## is the proof-system making part the formal system and ##\phi## is a wff (well formed formula) of the formal language. Note the blank on left of the turnstile symbol ##\vdash_S##, as far as I can tell it actually represents the empty set. So what does it mean ? I guess it actually means ##\phi## is a theorem of the formal system, i.e. there is a...
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