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Euler phi function (Definition)

For any positive integer $n$ , $\varphi(n)$ is the number of positive integers less than or equal to $n$ which are coprime to $n$ . The function $\varphi$ is known as the Euler $\varphi$ function. This function may also be denoted by $\phi$ .

Among the most useful properties of $\varphi$ are the facts that it is multiplicative (meaning if $\gcd(a,b)=1$ , then $\varphi(ab)=\varphi(a)\varphi(b)$ ) and that $\varphi(p^k)=p^{k-1}(p-1)$ for any prime $p$ and any positive integer $k$ . These two facts combined give a numeric computation of $\varphi$ for all positive integers:

$\displaystyle \varphi(n)$ $\displaystyle =n \prod_{p\vert n} \left( 1-\frac{1}{p} \right).$ (1)

For example,
$\displaystyle \varphi (2000)$ $\displaystyle = 2000 \prod_{p\vert 2000} \left(1-\frac{1}{p} \right)$    
  $\displaystyle = 2000 \left( 1 - \frac{1}{2} \right) \left( 1 - \frac{1}{5} \right)$    
  $\displaystyle = 2000 \left( \frac{1}{2} \right) \left( \frac{4}{5} \right)$    
  $\displaystyle = \frac{8000}{10}$    
  $\displaystyle = 800.$    

From equation ([*]), it is clear that $\varphi(n)\le n$ for any positive integer $n$ with equality holding exactly when $n=1$ . This is because$$ \prod_{p|n} \left( 1-\frac{1}{p} \right) \le 1,$$ with equality holding exactly when $n=1$ .

Another important fact about the Euler $\varphi$ function is that$$ \sum_{d|n} \varphi(d)=n,$$ where the sum extends over all positive divisors of $n$ . Also, by definition, $\varphi(n)$ is the number of units in the ring $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$ of integers modulo $n$ .

The sequence $\{\varphi(n)\}$ appears in the OEIS as sequence A000010.




"Euler phi function" is owned by Wkbj79. [ full author list (2) | owner history (1) ]
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See Also: proof that Euler $\varphi$ function is multiplicative, values of $n$ for which $\varphi(n)=\tau(n)$, prime residue class, Euler phi at a product

Other names:  Euler totient function, Euler $\varphi$ function, Euler $\phi$ function
Keywords:  number theory

Attachments:
derivation of Euler phi-function (Derivation) by jwaixs
Euler phi at a product (Theorem) by pahio
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Cross-references: OEIS, sequence, ring, units, divisors, sum, equality, clear, equation, prime, multiplicative, function, coprime, number, integer, positive
There are 41 references to this entry.

This is version 14 of Euler phi function, born on 2001-10-15, modified 2008-05-28.
Object id is 196, canonical name is EulerPhifunction.
Accessed 39194 times total.

Classification:
AMS MSC11-00 (Number theory :: General reference works )
 11A25 (Number theory :: Elementary number theory :: Arithmetic functions; related numbers; inversion formulas)

Pending Errata and Addenda
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\phi(x) = 1000 by pahio on 2007-12-31 08:55:50
Hi everybody, we can now introduce an interesting year x satisfying the above equation. Good new year!

Jussi
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