Generalizing Ruth-Aaron Numbers

Abstract

Let $f(n)$ be the sum of the prime divisors of $n$, counted with multiplicity; thus $f(2020)$ $= f(2^2 \cdot 5 \cdot 101) = 110$. Ruth-Aaron numbers, or integers $n$ with $f(n)=f(n+1)$, have been an interest of many number theorists since the famous 1974 baseball game gave them the elegant name after two baseball stars. Many of their properties were first discussed by Erd\"os and Pomerance in 1978. In this paper, we generalize their results in two directions: by raising prime factors to a power and allowing a small difference between $f(n)$ and $f(n+1)$. We prove that the number of integers up to $x$ with $f_r(n)=f_r(n+1)$ is $O\left(\frac{x(\log\log x)^3\log\log\log x}{(\log x)^2}\right)$, where $f_r(n)$ is the Ruth-Aaron function replacing each prime factor with its $r-$th power. We also prove that the density of $n$ remains $0$ if $|f_r(n)-f_r(n+1)|\leq k(x)$, where $k(x)$ is a function of $x$ with relatively low rate of growth. Moreover, we further the discussion of the infinitude of Ruth-Aaron numbers and provide a few possible directions for future study.