Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
Abstract:
Let denote the sum of the positive divisors of . We say that is perfect if . Currently there are no known odd perfect numbers. It is known that if an odd perfect number exists, then it must be of the form , where are distinct primes and . Define the total number of prime factors of as . Sayers showed that . This was later extended by Iannucci and Sorli to show that . This was extended by the author to show that . Using an idea of Carl Pomerance this paper extends these results. The current new bound is .