Abundant Numbers and the Riemann Hypothesis

Abstract

In this note I describe a computational study of the successive maxima of the relative sum-of-divisors function $\rho(n):=\sigma(n)/n$. These maxima occur at superabundant and colossally abundant numbers, and I also study the density of these numbers. The values are compared with the known maximal order $e^\gamma\loglog{n}$; theorems of Robin and Lagarias relate these data to a condition equivalent to the Riemann Hypothesis. It is thus interesting to see how close these conditions come to being violated.