English

On the probability that two random integers are coprime

Probability 2019-09-19 v2

Abstract

We show that there is a non-empty class of finitely additive probabilities on N2\mathbb N^2 such that for each member of the class, each set with limiting relative frequency pp has probability pp. Hence, in that context the probability that two random integers are coprime is 6/π26/\pi^2. We also show that two other interpretations of "random integer," namely residue classes and shift invariance, support any number in [0,6/π2][0, 6/\pi^2] for that probability. Finally, we specify a countably additive probability space that also supports 6/π26/\pi^2.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1806.00053,
  title  = {On the probability that two random integers are coprime},
  author = {Jing Lei and Joseph B. Kadane},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.00053},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

13 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-23T02:15:15.716Z