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Is it true that $\left\{\frac{\sigma(n)}{\varphi(n)}:\ n\in\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 1}\right\}=\{r\in\mathbb Q:\ r\ge1\}$?

For any positive integer $n$, let $\sigma(n)$ be the sum of all positive divisors of $n$. Clearly, $\sigma(n)\ge n\ge \varphi(n)$ for all $n\in\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 1}$, where $\varphi$ is Euler's totient ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
19 votes
3 answers
4k views

Generalized Euler phi function

Let $n$ be an integer, there is a well-known formula for $\varphi(n)$ where $\varphi$ is the Euler phi function. Essentially, $\varphi(n)$ gives the number of invertible elements in $\mathbb{Z}/n\...
T.B.'s user avatar
  • 337
18 votes
1 answer
593 views

For which $n$ is $\sum_{k=1}^n 1 / \varphi(k)$ an integer?

For which positive integers $n$ is the sum $\sum_{k=1}^n 1 / \varphi(k)$ an integer? Here $\varphi$ is the Euler totient function. The question is a "totient-analog" of the well-known result ...
annie's user avatar
  • 453
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

Sum of $\sum_{k=1}^nd(k^2)$

There is a literature dealing with $$ \sum_{k\le x}d(f(k)) $$ where $f$ is an irreducible polynomial and $d(n)$ is the number of divisors of $n$. Erdos 1952 shows that the sum $\asymp x\log x,$ which ...
Charles's user avatar
  • 9,114
15 votes
4 answers
2k views

Square roots and prime numbers

Definitions: Here I present a novel conjecture using basic mathematical tools like the sum of the divisors of an integer $n$ called $\sigma(n)$, the sum of the squares of the positive divisors of n ...
Sulfura's user avatar
  • 127
15 votes
1 answer
956 views

Is the sum $\sum_{d\mid n}\frac1{d+1}$ never integral?

Recall that a positive integer $n$ is a perfect number if and only if $$\frac{\sigma(n)}n=\sum_{d\mid n}\frac1d=2.$$ QUESTION: Is my following conjecture true? Conjecture. (i) We have $\sum_{d\mid ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
13 votes
2 answers
1k views

A mystery sequence

This question arose from the recent one, roots of a polynomial linked to mock theta function?. Let $$ g(x):=\sum_{k=0}^\infty x^k\prod_{j=1}^{k-1}(1 + x^j)^2\\=1+x+x^2+3 x^3+4 x^4+6 x^5+10 x^6+15 x^7+...
მამუკა ჯიბლაძე's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
934 views

Is the set of multiplicatively even numbers thick?

A positive integer is multiplicatively even (odd) if, when decomposed into primes, the sum of the exponents is even (odd). A subset of the integers is thick if it contains arbitrarily long intervals $\...
Joel Moreira's user avatar
  • 1,701
13 votes
0 answers
406 views

Is this arithmetic function strictly positive and unbounded?

As requested by Mathphile, since there have been efforts but no complete solutions to some questions raised when this question was asked on MSE, and since we think that here the question is more ...
user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
1k views

Euler's totient function and Riemann hypothesis

I am looking for an upper-bound of the Euler's totient function $\varphi$ which would be equivalent to the Riemann hypothesis (RH). There is the following Nicolas' criterion about primorial numbers $...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
1k views

A question on Euler's totient function

With reference to the Euler's totient function $\phi(\cdot)$, given any $n \in \mathbb{Z}^+$, it's quite straightforward to find $\phi(n)$. In contrast, given $n \in \mathbb{Z}^+$, even though there ...
Eureka's user avatar
  • 211
11 votes
3 answers
703 views

Evaluating the sum of $kl^2$ over $p,q,k,l$ such that $pk +ql = n$

I have come across the following sum: $$\sum_{\substack{p, q, k, l \in \mathbb{N} \\ k > l \\ pk + ql = n}}kl^2$$ and I am trying to simplify it, hoping to get a nice formula in terms of $n$ and ...
metallicmural99's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
238 views

Strong uniqueness of Euler's totient function

Let $f:\mathbb N\to \mathbb C$ be some arithmetical function. Define $\varphi_f(n)$ by the following formula: $$ \varphi_f(n)=\sum_{\substack{k\leq n \\ (k,n)=1}}f(k). $$ In other words, $\varphi_f(...
Alexander Kalmynin's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
4k views

Averages of Euler-phi function and similar

What are the odds two numbers are relatively prime? This is known to be $\frac{6}{\pi^2}$. The proof involves calculating averages of the Euler phi function. \[ \phi(1) + \phi(2) + \dotsb + \phi(n) \...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.8k
9 votes
2 answers
740 views

Asymptotics of product of Euler's totient function (A001088)?

Conjecture: \begin{align} \lim_{n\to \infty } \, \frac{\left(\prod _{k=1}^n \phi (k)\right){}^{1/n}}{n}\sim 0.2059\text{...} \end{align} The numerical result from 100000 terms is: My questions are: ...
Vaclav Kotesovec's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
328 views

On the density map of the abundancy index

Let $σ$ be the sum-of-divisors function. Let $σ(n)/n$ be the abundancy index of $n$. Consider the density map $$f(x) = \lim_{N \to \infty} f_N(x) \ \ \text{ with } \ \ f_N(x) = \frac{1}{N} \#\{ 1 \...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
659 views

The importance of relations between automorphic forms and arithmetic functions

As I understand things, one of the classical reasons to care about modular forms was their relation to interesting arithmetic functions/counting questions, i.e. on sums of squares and partitions. When ...
pw1's user avatar
  • 164
8 votes
1 answer
205 views

Are there infinite numbers of the form $\sigma_1(n)=\sigma_1(m)=p$, or is there only one?

I put forward a hypothesis in number theory, it is as follows.$ \sigma_1(n)=\sigma_1(m)=p$, where $\sigma_1$ is the divisor sum function, $n,m\in \mathbb N$, and $p$ is prime. I recently noticed and ...
Arsen Vardanyan's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
427 views

Goldbach's conjecture for the Liouville function

Is it true that for every even integer $N > 2$, there exist positive integers $a,b$ such that $a + b = N$ and $\lambda(a) = \lambda(b) = -1$ ? Here $\lambda$ is the Liouville function.
Pablo's user avatar
  • 11.3k
7 votes
3 answers
695 views

The digit sum: $s(na)=s(nb)$

Not that I was serious about the following question, but I think it is a must-to-ask as a follow-up to this MO post. For integer $n\ge0$, let $s(n)$ denote the sum of the digits in the decimal ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
7 votes
2 answers
447 views

Prove that two functions are equal only when $s \equiv \pm r^{\pm 1} \pmod{q}$

Let us fix a positive integer $q$, and let us define a functions $P: \mathbb{Z}\times \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{Z}$ as follows: $$ P(s,t) := \sum_{j=1}^t \left\lfloor \frac{j (s-1) + t}{q} \right\rfloor$$...
Luis Ferroni's user avatar
  • 1,889
7 votes
1 answer
365 views

How to explain this property of totient?

I am running a program to search for solutions of $$\varphi(pm+1)=\varphi(pm+p+1).$$ So far, for $m=1,\ldots,327$ solutions have been found (some relatively large). (in the body of the question, $p$ ...
user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Menon’s identity

I also put this question in stackexchange, but remained unanswered. https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/506996/menons-identity Let $G$ be a group of order $n$. Consider an action of $U_n$, the ...
zacarias's user avatar
  • 801
7 votes
1 answer
743 views

Generalization of a problem, involving radicals and the floor function, proposed by Ramanujan to the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society

The section Solved problems from the Wikipedia Floor and ceiling functions shows several problems proposed by Ramanujan ([1]). The purpose of this post, if possible, is try to get the generalization ...
user142929's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
421 views

On $\varphi(m)\varphi(n)\equiv0\pmod{m+n}$

Euler's totient function $\varphi$ is multiplicative, and it plays important roles in number theory. QUESTION: Is it true that for each integer $m>6$ we have $\varphi(m)\varphi(n)\equiv0\pmod{m+n}$...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
7 votes
1 answer
231 views

The asymptotic of $|\{1\leq n\leq x|\gcd(n,S(n))=1\}|$, with $S(n)$ the sum of remainders, and get idea for other miscellany problem

Let $n\geq 1$ be an integer. In this post we denote the sum of remainders function as $$S(n)=\sum_{k=1}^n n \bmod k,$$ for example $S(1)=S(2)=0+0$ and $S(5)=0+1+2+1+0=4$. In the literature there are ...
user142929's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
332 views

$n\varphi(n)\equiv 2\pmod{\sigma(n)}$ as a primality test

It is known from Subbarao, "On two congruences for primality" that $n>22$ is a prime iff $$n\sigma(n)\equiv 2\pmod{\varphi(n)},$$ where $\varphi(n)$ is Euler's function and $\sigma(n)$ is sum of ...
Alexey Ustinov's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does this multiplicative function have a name? If so, what is known about it?

It is well-known that the Euler $\phi$-function is multiplicative: that is, for co-prime positive integers $m,n$ we have $\phi(mn) = \phi(m)\phi(n)$. Thus it is defined by its values on prime powers. ...
Stanley Yao Xiao's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
331 views

A question about $(0,1]$-valued multiplicative functions

Suppose $f:\mathbb{N}\to [0,1]$ is a multiplicative function (i.e. $f(nm)=f(n)f(m)$ whenever $m$ and $n$ are coprime). Suppose $f$ has non-zero mean, which means $$ \lim_{N\to\infty}\frac{1}{N} \sum_{...
Karl's user avatar
  • 63
6 votes
1 answer
392 views

Arithmetic properties of positively reduced $2\times 2$-matrices

Call a $2\times 2$ matrix with coefficients in $\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}$ positively reduced if any row or column reduction (given by replacing a row/column by itself minus the other row/column) produces at ...
Roland Bacher's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
213 views

Upper bound on minimum number of prime factors in short intervals

Suppose that $H = H(X)$ is some quantity growing with $X$. Are there any bounds on $$F(X, H) = \min_{X < n\le X + H} \omega(n)?$$ It isn't hard to obtain a lower bound $\max_{x\sim X} F(X, H)\gg \...
Mayank Pandey's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
506 views

Does the equation $\sigma(\sigma(x^2))=2x\sigma(x)$ have any odd solutions?

This question was posted in MSE in early August 2020. It did garner several upvotes, but did not receive any responses. I have therefore cross-posted it here, hoping that it gets answered. Let $\...
Jose Arnaldo Bebita's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

If $N = qn^2$ is an odd perfect number with $\gcd(q,n)=1$, is it possible to have $q + 1 = \sigma(n)$?

The title says it all. Question If $N = qn^2$ is an odd perfect number with Euler prime $q$ and $\gcd(q,n)=1$, is it possible to have $q + 1 = \sigma(n)$? Heuristic From the Descartes spoof, with ...
Jose Arnaldo Bebita's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
333 views

Linear combination of multiplicative functions

Carlitz showed necessary and sufficient conditions for an arithmetic function to be a linear combination of two multiplicative functions. He mentions the possibility of generalizing to $k$ ...
Charles's user avatar
  • 9,114
5 votes
4 answers
2k views

Good books on arithmetic functions?

As I was studying the Möbius $\mu$ function and Gram series, I got myself some pretty nice books: Ribenboim - The New Book of Prime Number Records Apostol - Introduction to Analytic Number Theory ...
Roupam Ghosh's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
843 views

Is the number of solutions of $\phi(x)=n!$ bounded? If yes, what is its bound?

Pillai showed in 1929 that the function $A(n)$ giving the number solutions of the equation $\phi(x)=n$ is unbounded in (S. Pillai, On some functions connected with $\varphi(n)$, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. ...
zeraoulia rafik's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
314 views

Congruences for the non-divisors of Euler's $\phi(n)$

If $n$ is composite, then $\phi(n) < n-1$: hence, there is at least one number $d$ which does not divide $\phi(n)$ but divides$(n-1)$. We shall call $d$ the totient divisor of $n$. The purist will ...
Nilotpal Kanti Sinha's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
392 views

Does anyone recognize this exponential sum?

For $a$, $b$ two integers, let $(a,b)$ denotes their gcd. We define the following exponential sum : $$G_q(n):=\sum_{d|q,~(d,q/d)=1}{e^{2i\pi n\frac{dd'}{q}}}$$ for $n$ a non-negative integer and $q$ ...
Stabilo's user avatar
  • 1,479
5 votes
2 answers
556 views

Are there multiplicative functions which are not rational?

Vaidyanathaswamy calls an arithmetic function rational if it is the convolution of some finite collection of functions which are either completely multiplicative or inverse to a completely ...
Charles's user avatar
  • 9,114
5 votes
0 answers
256 views

Are the numbers $\varphi(n^2)\sigma(n^2)\ (n=1,2,3,\ldots)$ pairwise distinct?

Let $\varphi$ be Euler's totient function, and let $\sigma(n)=\sum_{d\mid n}d$ for $n=1,2,3,\ldots$. Both $\varphi$ and $\sigma$ are multiplicative functions. It is easy to see that the numbers $$\...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
5 votes
0 answers
229 views

Can we write each positive integer as $x^2+y^2+\varphi(z^2)$?

As odd squares are congruent to $1$ modulo $8$, any integer of the form $4^k(8m+7)$ with $k,m\in\mathbb N=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$ cannot be written as the sum of three squares. To avoid such congruence ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
4 votes
1 answer
558 views

A curious conjecture: $\{\varphi(m^2)/\varphi(n^2):\ m,n=1,2,3,\ldots\}=\{r>0:\ r\in\mathbb Q\}$

Let $\varphi$ denote Euler's totient function. It is easy to see that all those numbers $$\varphi(n^2)=n\varphi(n)\ \ (n=1,2,3,\ldots)$$ are pairwise distinct. I have the following surprising ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
4 votes
1 answer
170 views

The number of solutions of the equation $ax_1x_2+by_1y_2=n$

The equation $x_1x_2+y_1y_2=n$ is well-studied (Ingham, Heath-Brown, Deshouillers & Iwaniec, Ismoilov) because it arises in an additive divisor problem. The number of solutions in positive ...
Alexey Ustinov's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
175 views

Behavior of $m(x)\sqrt{x}$ where $m(x)=\sum_{n\leq x}\frac{\mu(n)}{n}$

Let $M(x) = \sum_{n\leq x} \mu(n)$ and $m(x) = \sum_{n\leq x} \frac{\mu(n)}{n}$, where $\mu(n)$ is the Möbius function. We know that (it is not the best known bounds): $$\limsup_{x \to \infty} M(x)x^{-...
 Babar's user avatar
  • 611
4 votes
1 answer
291 views

Generalization of the The Liouville Lambda function

Let $n=p^{\alpha_1}_1 \cdots p^{\alpha_m}_m,$ and define $$\lambda_k(n)= (-1)^{ [\frac{\Omega(n)}{k} ]},$$ where $\Omega(n)= \alpha_1 + \cdots + \alpha_k,$ and $[\cdot]$ is the floor function. For $...
Farzad Aryan's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
530 views

Reference for inequality for $\sum\limits_{d \mid n}\frac{\log d}{d}.$

Let $f(n)=\sum\limits_{d \mid n}\frac{\log d}{d}.$ It is not hard to see that $f(n)\ll(\log\log n)^2$. Is there any reference for this inequality? EDT 1: A possible answer is Analysis of the ...
Alexey Ustinov's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
256 views

First occurrence of formula for $\sum_{n\leq x} \mu(n) \log n$ in terms of $\psi(y)-\lfloor y\rfloor$?

The identity contained in the last two displayed equations in the following passage (from page 110 in Ayoub's An Introduction to the Analytic Theory of Numbers, 1963) gives us right away a simple ...
H A Helfgott's user avatar
  • 20.2k
4 votes
1 answer
322 views

A special kind of multiplicative function $f: \mathbb N \to \mathbb N$ such that $f(p)=p+k$ for all odd prime $p$, where $k>1$ is a fixed odd integer

For which odd positive integer $k$, can we find a multiplicative function $f: \mathbb N \to \mathbb N$ satisfying the following conditions : $f(p)=p+k$ for all large enough odd prime $p$ and the set $...
user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
151 views

Identities to go from $\sum_{n\leq x} \mu(n) \log \frac{x}{n}$ to $M(x) = \sum_{n\leq x} \mu(n)$?

Let $\mu$ be the Möbius function. Say we have a bound on $\check{M}(x) = \sum_{n\leq x} \mu(n) \log \frac{x}{n}$ of the form $|\check{M}(x)|\leq \epsilon x$ for all $x\geq x_0$. It is then easy to ...
H A Helfgott's user avatar
  • 20.2k
4 votes
0 answers
121 views

Do all nonnegative integers appear in A051521?

For every positive integer $n$, $\tau(n)$ is the number of divisors of $n$. If we list the ratio of each positive integer $n$ to $\tau(n)$,they form a rational sequence 1,1,3/2,4/3,5/2,3/2,… Because $\...
Tong Lingling's user avatar