Problem Statement
Are there $n$ such that there is a covering system with moduli the divisors of $n$ which is 'as disjoint as possible'?
That is, for all $d\mid n$ with $d>1$ there is an associated $a_d$ such that every integer is congruent to some $a_d\pmod{d}$, and if there is some integer $x$ with\[x\equiv a_d\pmod{d}\textrm{ and }x\equiv a_{d'}\pmod{d'}\]then $(d,d')=1$.
That is, for all $d\mid n$ with $d>1$ there is an associated $a_d$ such that every integer is congruent to some $a_d\pmod{d}$, and if there is some integer $x$ with\[x\equiv a_d\pmod{d}\textrm{ and }x\equiv a_{d'}\pmod{d'}\]then $(d,d')=1$.
Categories:
Covering Systems Divisors
Progress
The density of such $n$ is zero. Erdős and Graham believed that no such $n$ exist.Adenwalla [Ad25] has proved there are no such $n$.
In general, for any $n$ one can try to choose such $a_d$ to maximise the density of integers so covered, and ask what this density is. This was also investigated by Adenwalla [Ad25].
Source: erdosproblems.com/204 | Last verified: January 14, 2026