Largest prime factor Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The largest prime factor of an integer is the greatest prime number dividing .
Fix a finite set of primes. We prove that only finitely many denominators can be S-smooth number. This is the standard finite-place corollary of the Schmidt subspace theorem for best approximations of the first kind; the reduction is recalled here because the target need not be algebraic.
Apply the Dirichlet approximation theorem at each cutoff between two successive record denominators. Its approximant can be replaced by the last record without increasing the error. Apply the finite-place Schmidt subspace theorem to the resulting pairs of primitive vectors, using at the real place only after eliminating between two successive pairs, and at every place belonging to . The factors
for an -smooth denominator supply the required height saving. If infinitely many such records existed, one fixed rational subspace would contain infinitely many of the paired vectors. Eliminating its rational linear relation has two possible outcomes: either all sufficiently late records represent one rational number, which contradicts the irrationality of , or is algebraic and, for some , infinitely many of the records satisfy
The latter alternative contradicts the Roth theorem. Thus only finitely many are -smooth.
If the largest prime factor of did not tend to infinity, some bound would contain the largest prime factor for infinitely many . Taking to be the finite set of primes at most would make those denominators -smooth, contrary to the preceding conclusion. Therefore .
The sequence does not converge. For , the largest prime factor is , while the sum of prime factors with multiplicity is . This subsequence therefore has ratio .
There are infinitely many prime numbers: if there were only , a prime factor of would be absent from the list. Listing the prime numbers in increasing order gives a subsequence of indices for which , so the ratio is constantly one. Every subsequence of a convergent sequence has the same limit of a sequence. The two distinct subsequential limits rule out convergence.