In number theory, a semiperfect number or pseudoperfect number is a natural numbern that is equal to the sum of all or some of its proper divisors. A semiperfect number that is equal to the sum of all its proper divisors is a perfect number.
Every multiple of a semiperfect number is semiperfect.[1] A semiperfect number that is not divisible by any smaller semiperfect number is called primitive.
Every number of the form 2mp for a natural number m and an oddprime numberp such that p < 2m+1 is also semiperfect.
In particular, every number of the form 2m(2m+1 − 1) is semiperfect, and indeed perfect if 2m+1 − 1 is a Mersenne prime.
The smallest odd semiperfect number is 945 (see, e.g., Friedman 1993).
A semiperfect number is necessarily either perfect or abundant. An abundant number that is not semiperfect is called a weird number.
A primitive semiperfect number (also called a primitive pseudoperfect number, irreducible semiperfect number or irreducible pseudoperfect number) is a semiperfect number that has no semiperfect proper divisor.[2]
The first few primitive semiperfect numbers are 6, 20, 28, 88, 104, 272, 304, 350, ... (sequence A006036 in the OEIS)
There are infinitely many such numbers. All numbers of the form 2mp, with p a prime between 2m and 2m+1, are primitive semiperfect, but this is not the only form: for example, 770.[1][2] There are infinitely many odd primitive semiperfect numbers, the smallest being 945, a result of Paul Erdős:[2] there are also infinitely many primitive semiperfect numbers that are not harmonic divisor numbers.[1]
Every semiperfect number is a multiple of a primitive semiperfect number.
