Conjectura
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← problemsNT014openMathematics/ Number theory

The Erdős–Straus conjecture

Maintainer — open

Can 4/n always be written as a sum of three unit fractions?

Motivation

Erdős and Straus, 1948. Verified for every n up to 10^17.

The difficulty is that the obvious approaches settle n in most residue classes and leave a thin set behind — the hard cases are n ≡ 1, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23 mod 24, and a covering-congruence argument cannot reach all of them.

Erdős and Straus, 1948.

Lean API
import Mathlib.NumberTheory.Divisors
import Mathlib.Data.Rat.Defs

namespace Conjectura.NT014

/-- Can `4/n` always be written as a sum of three unit fractions, for `n ≥ 2`?
Verified past 10^17, unproved. -/
def goal : Prop :=
  ∀ n : ℕ, 2 ≤ n → ∃ x y z : ℕ, 0 < x ∧ 0 < y ∧ 0 < z ∧
    (4 : ℚ) / n = 1 / x + 1 / y + 1 / z

end Conjectura.NT014
Definition

This statement is written entirely in arithmetic and standard number systems — there is no specialised vocabulary to define.

Related work0
    For your AI
    Download as .md
    I am proving a theorem in Lean 4 and submitting it to Conjectura.
    
    ## Problem NT014 — The Erdős–Straus conjecture
    
    Can 4/n always be written as a sum of three unit fractions?
    
    ## Environment (fixed — do not assume anything newer)
    
    - Lean toolchain: `leanprover/lean4:v4.33.0-rc1`
    - Mathlib: `v4.33.0-rc1`
    
    If a lemma you want does not exist in that Mathlib, prove it inline instead of
    importing something newer.
    
    ## The exact statement I must prove
    
    ```lean
    theorem solution : ∀ n : ℕ, 2 ≤ n → ∃ x y z : ℕ, 0 < x ∧ 0 < y ∧ 0 < z ∧
        (4 : ℚ) / n = 1 / x + 1 / y + 1 / z := by
      sorry
    ```
    
    ## The file I submit
    
    ```lean
    import Conjectura.Problems.NT014.Statement
    
    namespace Submission
    
    theorem solution : Conjectura.NT014.goal := by
      sorry
    
    end Submission
    
    ```
    
    ## The Lean definitions of every term in this problem
    
    These are the actual definitions your proof will be checked against. Do not
    substitute your own version of any of them.
    
    (none)
    
    ## Rules — submissions violating these are rejected automatically
    
    1. **Do not change the name or type of `solution`.** It must satisfy the
       statement above exactly.
    2. **Do not redefine or shadow anything from the problem's Statement module.**
       Declaring your own `goal`, or redefining a name it depends on, produces a
       proof of a *different* statement and is rejected. This is the single most
       common rejection.
    3. **No `sorry`** anywhere, including in helper lemmas. It surfaces as the
       axiom `sorryAx` and is detected transitively through imports.
    4. **No `native_decide`** — it surfaces as `Lean.ofReduceBool` and is not
       accepted, because it trusts compiled code rather than the kernel.
    5. Only these axioms are permitted: `propext`, `Classical.choice`,
       `Quot.sound`.
    6. Follow Mathlib style: hypotheses left of the colon, explicit types,
       `snake_case` theorem names, `UpperCamelCase` types.
    
    ## What I want from you
    
    Here is my argument in informal mathematics:
    
    > [PASTE YOUR PROOF SKETCH HERE]
    
    Turn it into Lean 4 that compiles under the environment above and satisfies the
    statement exactly. Where you are unsure a lemma exists in this Mathlib version,
    say so explicitly rather than guessing a name.

    Submissions are not open yet

    Conjectura is in beta. You can read every statement, every definition and the Lean behind them, and download the exact files the checker uses — but proofs are not being accepted yet.

    The reason is a deliberate order of operations. Accepting a proof means running a stranger’s code and standing behind a verdict, and no statement here yet carries a researcher’s name. A machine-checked answer to a question nobody has vouched for is worth very little, so the vouching comes first.

    The English write-ups are also switched off during the beta. Nothing on this page is generated by a model.

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