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I would like to determine the values of $a$ for which $3 \cdot 5^a \cdot 7$ is abundant.

My work so far: $\sigma(3 \cdot 5^a \cdot 7) > 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 5^a \cdot 7 = 42 \cdot 5^a \Leftrightarrow$ $ \sigma(3) \cdot \sigma (5^a) \cdot \sigma (7) > 42 \cdot5^a \Leftrightarrow$

$(4) \cdot \left ( \sum_{k = 0}^a 5^k\right ) \cdot (8) > 42 \cdot 5^a$ ... And since the sum contains $5^a$ in it, I thought about trying to cancel that from both sides, but am stuck.

Can I get a nudge in the right direction? (Also, if there is a theoretic result that I should be using, feel free to mention it!)


Added: Using Will Jagy's hint, I now have $ 8 \cdot (5^{a + 1} - 1) = 40 \cdot 5^a - 8 > 42 \cdot 5^a$ which appears to have no solution.

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    @Will: [cramster](http://www.cramster.com/answers-feb-12/advanced-math/abundant-number-values-3-5a-7-abundant_2210167.aspx?rec=0)2012-02-29

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For all $a\ge 0$, $\sigma(p^a)=(p^{a+1}-1)/(p-1)$, so $ \frac{\sigma(p^a)}{p^a}=\frac{p^{a+1}-1}{p^{a+1}-p^{a}}\le \frac{p^{a+1}}{p^{a+1}-p^a}=\frac{p}{p-1}. $ Therefore, $ \frac{\sigma(3\cdot 5^a\cdot 7)}{3\cdot 5^a\cdot 7}\le \frac{3^2-1}{3^2-3}\cdot \frac{5}{5-1}\cdot \frac{7^2-1}{7^2-7} = \frac{40}{21}<2,$ so no number of the form $3\cdot 5^a\cdot 7$ can be abundant.

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$ \sigma(p^a) = \frac{p^{a+1}-1}{p-1} $

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    I have incorporated this into my most recent edit.2012-02-29
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There is a function, about 100 years old, that gives abundant numbers, indeed what are called colossally abundant numbers. I call $f(\delta)$ the corresponding number for $1 \geq \delta > 0.$

I calculate $ f(1) = 1, \; f(1/2) = 2, \; f(1/4) = 6, \; f(1/6) = 12, \; f(1/10) = 60, \; f(1/12) = 120,$ then $ f(1/14) = 360, \; f(1/17) = 2520, \; f(1/25) = 5040, \; f(1/31) = 55440, \; f(1/39) = 720720,$ and so on as $\delta$ decreases.

Given some $\delta > 0,$ the correct exponent for some prime $p$ is $ \left\lfloor \frac{\log (p^{1 + \delta} - 1) - \log(p^\delta - 1)}{\log p} \right\rfloor \; - \; 1. $
This is Theorem 10 on page 455 of Alaoglu and Erdos. For a fixed $\delta,$ the exponents either stay the same or decrease for increasing $p,$ and eventually the exponent 0 is reached. In particular, if $ \frac{\log \left(1 + \frac{1}{p} \right)}{\log p} \; < \; \delta, $ the prime $p$ is not a factor of the number.

If you want the first (largest) $\delta$ for which a favorite prime $p$ gets assigned exponent $k,$ let $ \delta = \frac{\log(p^{k+1} - 1) - \log(p^{k+1} - p)}{\log p} $

See OEIS and WOOKIE

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    @TheChaz, see if you can program a function that takes 1 \geq \delta > 0 and gives you $f(\delta)$ and the prime factorization of $f(\delta),$ then experiment with that. If you can get it to find $\sigma(f(\delta))$ and, say, $\sigma(f(\delta)) / (f(\delta)),$ that would be educational.2012-02-29