English

Density properties of fractions with Euler's totient function

Number Theory 2024-11-19 v1

Abstract

We prove that for all constants aNa\in\N, bZb\in\Z, c,dRc,d\in\R, c0c\neq 0, the fractions ϕ(an+b)/(cn+d)\phi(an+b)/(cn+d) lie dense in the interval ]0,D]]0,D] (respectively [D,0[[D,0[ if c<0c<0), where D=aϕ(gcd(a,b))/(cgcd(a,b))D=a\phi(\gcd(a,b))/(c\gcd(a,b)). This interval is the largest possible, since it may happen that isolated fractions lie outside of the interval: we prove a complete determination of the case where this happens, which yields an algorithm that calculates the amount of nn such that \rad(an+b)g\rad(an+b)|g for coprime a,ba,b and any gg. Furthermore, this leads to an interesting open question which is a generalization of a famous problem raised by V.~Arnold. For the fractions ϕ(an+b)/ϕ(cn+d)\phi(an+b)/\phi(cn+d) with constants a,cN,b,dZa,c\in\N,b,d\in\Z, we prove that they lie dense in ]0,[]0,\infty[ exactly if adbcad\neq bc.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2411.11065,
  title  = {Density properties of fractions with Euler's totient function},
  author = {Karin Halupczok and Marvin Ohst},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.11065},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

33 pages, accepted by Involve, a Journal of Mathematics

R2 v1 2026-06-28T20:02:43.981Z