Korselt criterion Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-18
A composite integer is a Carmichael number if and only if it is a squarefree integer andThe criterion is named for Alwin Korselt. The two requirements are different: the first excludes repeated prime factors, while the second makes the exponent a common multiple of the prime-field return exponents.[ref]
For , the numbers divide with quotients . Thus 1105 is another Carmichael number. By contrast is squarefree, but ; a single failed divisor condition excludes it. This illustrates the appeal of the criterion: a statement about every unit becomes a small calculation using a known prime factorization.
The composite condition must be retained. A prime number is squarefree and satisfies the divisibility condition, but is excluded from the definition of a Carmichael number. The resulting certificate also depends on the supplied factors really being prime numbers; merely finding a product decomposition is insufficient.