ON THE DENSITY OF INTEGERS OF THE FORM (p−1)2−n IN ARITHMETIC PROGRESSIONS

Abstract

AbstractErdős and Odlyzko proved that odd integers k such that k2n+1 is prime for some positive integer n have a positive lower density. In this paper, we characterize all arithmetic progressions in which natural numbers that can be expressed in the form (p−1)2−n (where p is a prime number) have a positive proportion. We also prove that an arithmetic progression consisting of odd numbers can be obtained from a covering system if and only if those integers in such a progression which can be expressed in the form (p−1)2−n have an asymptotic density of zero.