In 1996, Andrew Granville proposed the following construction of a set ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ :^[1]

Let ${\displaystyle 1\in {\mathcal {S}}}$ , and for any integer ${\displaystyle n}$  larger than 1, let ${\displaystyle n\in {\mathcal {S}}}$  if

${\displaystyle \sum _{d\mid n,\;d<n,\;d\in {\mathcal {S}}}d\leq n.}$ 

A Granville number is an element of ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  for which equality holds, that is, ${\displaystyle n}$  is a Granville number if it is equal to the sum of its proper divisors that are also in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ . Granville numbers are also called ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect numbers.^[2]

The elements of ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  can be k-deficient, k-perfect, or k-abundant. In particular, 2-perfect numbers are a proper subset of ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ .^[1]

S-deficient numbers edit

Numbers that fulfill the strict form of the inequality in the above definition are known as ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -deficient numbers. That is, the ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -deficient numbers are the natural numbers for which the sum of their divisors in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  is strictly less than themselves:

${\displaystyle \sum _{d\mid {n},\;d<n,\;d\in {\mathcal {S}}}d<{n}}$ 

S-perfect numbers edit

Numbers that fulfill equality in the above definition are known as ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect numbers.^[1] That is, the ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect numbers are the natural numbers that are equal the sum of their divisors in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ . The first few ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect numbers are:

6, 24, 28, 96, 126, 224, 384, 496, 1536, 1792, 6144, 8128, 14336, ... (sequence A118372 in the OEIS)

Every perfect number is also ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect.^[1] However, there are numbers such as 24 which are ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect but not perfect. The only known ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect number with three distinct prime factors is 126 = 2 · 3² · 7.^[2]

S-abundant numbers edit

Numbers that violate the inequality in the above definition are known as ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -abundant numbers. That is, the ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -abundant numbers are the natural numbers for which the sum of their divisors in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  is strictly greater than themselves:

${\displaystyle \sum _{d\mid {n},\;d<n,\;d\in {\mathcal {S}}}d>{n}}$ 

They belong to the complement of ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ . The first few ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -abundant numbers are:

12, 18, 20, 30, 42, 48, 56, 66, 70, 72, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 102, 104, ... (sequence A181487 in the OEIS)

Every deficient number and every perfect number is in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  because the restriction of the divisors sum to members of ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  either decreases the divisors sum or leaves it unchanged. The first natural number that is not in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  is the smallest abundant number, which is 12. The next two abundant numbers, 18 and 20, are also not in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ . However, the fourth abundant number, 24, is in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  because the sum of its proper divisors in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  is:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 8 = 24

In other words, 24 is abundant but not ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -abundant because 12 is not in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ . In fact, 24 is ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect - it is the smallest number that is ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$ -perfect but not perfect.

The smallest odd abundant number that is in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  is 2835, and the smallest pair of consecutive numbers that are not in ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}$  are 5984 and 5985.^[1]