English

On an iterated arithmetic function problem of Erdos and Graham

Number Theory 2025-04-14 v1

Abstract

Erd\H{o}s and Graham define g(n)=n+ϕ(n)g(n) = n + \phi(n) and the iterated application gk(n)=g(gk1(n))g_k(n) = g(g_{k-1}(n)). They ask for solutions of gk+r(n)=2gk(n)g_{k+r}(n) = 2 g_{k}(n) and observe gk+2(10)=2gk(10)g_{k+2}(10) = 2 g_{k}(10) and gk+2(94)=2gk(94)g_{k+2}(94) = 2 g_{k}(94). We show that understanding the case r=2r = 2 is equivalent to understanding all solutions of the equation ϕ(n)+ϕ(n+ϕ(n))=n\phi(n) + \phi(n + \phi(n)) = n and find the explicit solutions n=2{1,3,5,7,35,47} n = 2^{\ell} \cdot \left\{1,3,5,7,35,47\right\}. This list of solutions is possibly complete: any other solution derives from a number n=2pn=2^{\ell} p where p1010p \geq 10^{10} is a prime satisfying ϕ((3p1)/4)=(p+1)/2\phi((3p-1)/4) = (p+1)/2. Primes with this property seem to be very rare and maybe no such prime exists.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2504.08023,
  title  = {On an iterated arithmetic function problem of Erdos and Graham},
  author = {Stefan Steinerberger},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.08023},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:54:05.807Z