English

Uncertainty principles connected with the M\"{o}bius inversion formula

Number Theory 2014-10-31 v1

Abstract

We say that two arithmetic functions f and g form a Mobius pair if f(n) = \sum_{d \mid n} g(d) for all natural numbers n. In that case, g can be expressed in terms of f by the familiar Mobius inversion formula of elementary number theory. In a previous paper, the first-named author showed that if the members f and g of a Mobius pair are both finitely supported, then both functions vanish identically. Here we prove two significantly stronger versions of this uncertainty principle. A corollary is that in a nonzero Mobius pair, either \sum_{n \in supp(f)} 1/n or \sum_{n \in supp(g)} 1/n diverges.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1211.0189,
  title  = {Uncertainty principles connected with the M\"{o}bius inversion formula},
  author = {Paul Pollack and Carlo Sanna},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1211.0189},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

10 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T22:31:36.986Z