OFFSET
1,2
COMMENTS
a(n) is no more than 2^[(n-1)*(n-2)] for n > 6 (and equals it for n = 7 and 8 at least). The reason for this bound is that for this number for each length from n down to 3 there is at least one power of 2, 2^k, such that in base b = 2^k-1 the binomial expansion of (b+1)^floor([(n-1)*(n-2)]/k) multiplied by the remaining small power of 2 gives a palindromic expression not requiring carries in base b. James G. Merickel, Aug 05 2015
EXAMPLE
a(6)=1885: the bases are 1884 (1885 is 11 in base 1884), 14 (1885 is 989 in base 14), 12 (it is 1111 in base 12), 6 (it is 12421 in base 6), and 4 (it is 131131 in base 4).
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
nonn,base,hard,more
AUTHOR
James G. Merickel, Dec 18 2009
EXTENSIONS
a(7) and a(8) added by James G. Merickel, Feb 04 2010
Offset changed to 1, with corresponding addition of a(1) by James G. Merickel, Jul 24 2015
Comment corrected and explained.James G. Merickel, Aug 05 2015
Definition and example rewritten by N. J. A. Sloane, Aug 05 2015
STATUS
approved