9-Apr-1995

Unsolved Problem 15:

Is every Mersenne number square free?

A Mersenne number is a number of the form (2^p)-1 where p is a prime.
A prime is an integer larger than 1 whose only positive divisors are 1 and itself.
An integer is said to be square free if it is not divisible by a perfect square, n^2, for n>1.

Reference:

[Ribenboim 1988]
Paulo Ribenboim, The Book of Prime Number Records. Springer-Verlag. New York: 1988. Page 80.
Square Free Mersenne Numbers
Each week, for your edification, we publish a well-known unsolved mathematics problem. These postings are intended to inform you of some of the difficult, yet interesting, problems that mathematicians are investigating. We do not suggest that you tackle these problems, since mathematicians have been unsuccessfully working on these problems for many years.

general references
previous problem
problem archive
next problem
electronic publications