Open-access mathematical research insights
About Contact
Home / Erdos Problems / Problem #351

Problem #351: Let $p(x)\in \mathbb{Q}[x]$

Let $p(x)\in \mathbb{Q}[x]$. Is it true that\[A=\{ p(n)+1/n : n\in \mathbb{N}\}\]is strongly complete, in the sense that, for any finite set...

Problem Statement

Let $p(x)\in \mathbb{Q}[x]$. Is it true that\[A=\{ p(n)+1/n : n\in \mathbb{N}\}\]is strongly complete, in the sense that, for any finite set $B$,\[\left\{\sum_{n\in X}n : X\subseteq A\backslash B\textrm{ finite }\right\}\]contains all sufficiently large integers?
Categories: Number Theory Complete Sequences

Progress

Graham [Gr63] proved this is true when $p(n)=n$. Erdős and Graham also ask which rational functions $r(x)\in\mathbb{Z}(x)$ force $\{ r(n) : n\in\mathbb{N}\}$ to be complete?

Graham [Gr64f] gave a complete characterisation of which polynomials $r\in \mathbb{R}[x]$ are such that $\{ r(n) : n\in \mathbb{N}\}$ is complete.

In the comments van Doorn has noted that a positive solution for $p(n)=n^2$ follows from [Gr63] together with result of Alekseyev [Al19] mentioned in [283].

Source: erdosproblems.com/351 | Last verified: January 14, 2026

Stay Updated

Get weekly digests of new research insights delivered to your inbox.