在正数n!的质因子标准分解式中,质数p的指数记作 L p {\displaystyle L_{p}} (n!),则 L p {\displaystyle L_{p}} (n!)= ∑ k >= 1 {\displaystyle \sum _{k>=1}} .
勒让德定理是由法国数学家勒让德发现证明的.
若把2,3,...,n都分解成了标准分解式,则 L p {\displaystyle L_{p}} (n!)就是这n-1个分解式中p的指数和.设其中p的指数为r的有 n r {\displaystyle n_{r}} 个( r >= 1 {\displaystyle r>=1} ),则 L p {\displaystyle L_{p}} (n!)= n 1 + 2 n 2 + 3 n 3 + . . . = {\displaystyle n_{1}+2n_{2}+3n_{3}+...=} ∑ r >= 1 r n r {\displaystyle \sum _{r>=1}rn_{r}} = n 1 + n 2 + n 3 + . . . + n 2 + n 3 + . . . + n 3 + . . . = N 1 + N 2 + N 3 + . . . = {\displaystyle =n_{1}+n_{2}+n_{3}+...+n_{2}+n_{3}+...+n_{3}+...=N_{1}+N_{2}+N_{3}+...=} ∑ k >= r N r {\displaystyle \sum _{k>=r}N_{r}} 其中 N r = n r + n r + 1 + . . . = {\displaystyle N_{r}=n_{r}+n_{r+1}+...=} ∑ k >= r n k {\displaystyle \sum _{k>=r}n_{k}} 恰好是2,3,...,n这n-1个数中能被 p r {\displaystyle p^{r}} 除尽的数的个数,即 N r {\displaystyle N_{r}} = {\displaystyle } 得证.