What is the smallest positive integer for which is not an integer?
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n ! = k = 1 ∏ m p k q k , the n factorial is the product of powers q k of all primes p k smaller of equal to n . The power of the k th prime is given by q k = j = 1 ∑ ∞ ⌊ p k j n ⌋ , where ⌊ ⋅ ⌋ denotes the floor function . Denote q k = q ( p k ) . Then we have:
q ( 2 ) = j = 1 ∑ ∞ ⌊ 2 j 5 0 ⌋ = ⌊ 2 5 0 ⌋ + ⌊ 4 5 0 ⌋ + ⌊ 8 5 0 ⌋ + ⌊ 1 6 5 0 ⌋ + ⌊ 3 2 5 0 ⌋ = 2 5 + 1 2 + 6 + 3 + 1 = 4 7
q ( 3 ) = j = 1 ∑ ∞ ⌊ 3 j 5 0 ⌋ = ⌊ 3 5 0 ⌋ + ⌊ 9 5 0 ⌋ + ⌊ 2 7 5 0 ⌋ = 1 6 + 5 + 1 = 2 2
Therefore, 2 4 n n ! = 2 3 n 3 n 2 4 7 ⋅ 3 2 2 ⋅ 5 1 2 ⋯ 4 3 ⋅ 4 7 is not an integer, when 2 4 n ∣ 5 0 ! or 3 n > 4 7 or n > 2 2 . ⟹ n ≥ 1 6 .