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PROVED (LEAN) This has been solved in the affirmative and the proof verified in Lean. - $100
If $\delta>0$ and $N$ is sufficiently large in terms of $\delta$, and $A\subseteq\{1,\ldots,N\}$ is such that $\sum_{a\in A}\frac{1}{a}>\delta \log N$ then must there exist $S\subseteq A$ such that $\sum_{n\in S}\frac{1}{n}=1$?
Solved by Bloom [Bl21], who showed that the quantitative threshold\[\sum_{n\in A}\frac{1}{n}\gg \frac{\log\log\log N}{\log\log N}\log N\]is sufficient. This was improved by Liu and Sawhney [LiSa24] to\[\sum_{n\in A}\frac{1}{n}\gg (\log N)^{4/5+o(1)}.\]Erdős speculated that perhaps even $\gg (\log\log N)^2$ might be sufficient. (A construction of Pomerance, as discussed in the appendix of [Bl21], shows that this would be best possible.)

See also [46] and [298].
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This page was last edited 07 April 2026. (View history) (View the LaTeX source)

When referring to this problem, please use the original sources of Erdős. If you wish to acknowledge this website, the recommended citation format is:

T. F. Bloom, Erdős Problem #47, https://www.erdosproblems.com/47, accessed 2026-09-01

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