A question regarding arithmetic progressions

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In summary, there is a conjecture by Erdos that states if a subset of natural numbers has a divergent sum of reciprocals, then it contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. This conjecture is not yet proven even for progressions of length 3.
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Fairly recently someone started a topic here regarding the conjecture of Erdos about arithmetic progressions, namely that if [itex]A[/itex] is a subset of the natural numbers and the sum of the reciprocals of elements of [itex]A[/itex] diverges, then [itex]A[/itex] contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions.

I'm looking for some clarity on the statement mainly, that I haven't been able to find anywhere else. I'll illustrate my question with an example:

Consider the set [itex]A=\{1,3,5,7,9,11\}[/itex]. This set contains an arithmetic progression of length 6, but can we also say it contains arithmetic progressions of length 5, 4, and 3?

In other words, is the statement "a set of natural numbers does not contain arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions" equivalent to the statement "there exists some natural number [itex]N[/itex] such that the set contains no arithmetic progressions of length greater than [itex]N[/itex]"?
 
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Hi Drag,

I would answer yes to both of your question, but I will not subscribe to your in between phrase "In other words".

As far as I know, the conjecture is not even proved for arithmetic progressions of length 3, so I would start there (and believe me, I have tried, and will probably try again).
 

FAQ: A question regarding arithmetic progressions

1. What is an arithmetic progression?

An arithmetic progression is a sequence of numbers in which each term is obtained by adding a fixed number, called the common difference, to the previous term. For example, in the sequence 3, 7, 11, 15, the common difference is 4.

2. What is the formula for finding the nth term of an arithmetic progression?

The formula for finding the nth term of an arithmetic progression is an = a1 + (n-1)d, where an is the nth term, a1 is the first term, and d is the common difference.

3. How do you determine if a sequence is an arithmetic progression?

To determine if a sequence is an arithmetic progression, you can check if the difference between consecutive terms is the same. If it is, then the sequence is an arithmetic progression. You can also use the formula an = a1 + (n-1)d to check if the sequence follows the pattern of an arithmetic progression.

4. Can an arithmetic progression have a negative common difference?

Yes, an arithmetic progression can have a negative common difference. In this case, the sequence would be decreasing rather than increasing. For example, the sequence 10, 7, 4, 1 is an arithmetic progression with a common difference of -3.

5. How can arithmetic progressions be used in real-life situations?

Arithmetic progressions are commonly used in finance and economics to model the growth or decline of a quantity over time. They can also be used in calculating average rates of change and in solving problems involving constant rates of change, such as distance and speed problems.

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