primefree sequence
Consider the sequence![]()
defined by , and for all . As it has been verified not to contain any primes, it is called a primefree sequence
![]()
. The initial terms must be coprime
![]()
, or else the lack of primes is a trivial consequence of the initial terms sharing a divisor
![]()
other than 1.
Any Fibonacci-like sequence will naturally exhibit some patterns in the factorizations of its terms in relation![]()
to their indices. The initial terms are chosen so that these patterns cover any possible value of . So, for our example sequence, discovered by Wilf in 1990, , , , , etc. for a finite number of potential prime factors
![]()
(and in each case).
Order is very important: switching the initial terms can cause primes to arise in the sequence. Switching the initial terms in our example causes and a few others afterwards to be prime.
The example sequence is listed in A083216 of the OEIS.
References
- 1 P. Hoffman. The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth. New York: Hyperion, 1998.
- 2 H. Nicol. A Fibonacci-like sequence of composite numbers

. Electronic J. of Combinatorics 6, 1999.
- 3 H. S. Wilf. Letters to the Editor. Math. Mag. 63, 284, 1990.