To distinguish this from
A259349: "Numbers n with exactly k distinct prime factors" means numbers with
A001221(n) = omega(n) = k, which specifies that in the prime factorization n = Product_{i>=1} p_i^(e_i), e_i >= 1, the exponents are ignored, and only the size of the set of the (distinct) p_i is considered. In
A259349, the numbers n are products of k distinct primes, which means in the prime factorization of n, all exponents e_i are equal to 1. (If all exponents e_i = 1, the n are squarefree, i.e., in
A005117.) Rephrased: the n which are products of k distinct primes have
A001221(n) = omega(n) =
A001222(n) = bigomega(n) = k, whereas the n which have exactly k distinct prime factors are the superset of (weaker) requirement
A001221(n) = omega(n) = k. -
R. J. Mathar, Jul 18 2023