English

On Incidences of $\varphi$ and $\sigma$ in the Function Field Setting

Number Theory 2018-09-07 v1

Abstract

Erd\H{o}s first conjectured that infinitely often we have φ(n)=σ(m)\varphi(n) = \sigma(m), where φ\varphi is the Euler totient function and σ\sigma is the sum of divisor function. This was proven true by Ford, Luca and Pomerance in 2010. We ask the analogous question of whether infinitely often we have φ(F)=σ(G)\varphi(F) = \sigma(G) where FF and GG are polynomials over some finite field Fq\mathbb{F}_q. We find that when q2q\not=2 or 33, then this can only trivially happen when F=G=1F=G=1. Moreover, we give a complete characterisation of the solutions in the case q=2q=2 or 33. In particular, we show that φ(F)=σ(G)\varphi(F) = \sigma(G) infinitely often when q=2q=2 or 33.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1809.01950,
  title  = {On Incidences of $\varphi$ and $\sigma$ in the Function Field Setting},
  author = {Patrick Meisner},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1809.01950},
  year   = {2018}
}