Miscellaneous

Daniel Gruszczynski
August 28, 2015
This document contains interesting blurbs and problems Ive come across
but had no home for. Each section is standalone and can be read (or skipped)
in any order.

1
1.1

Abstract Algebra
Eulers totient function

Definition 1. We define Eulers totient function as follows: For every

n Z+ , (n) is the number of positive integers a n such that gcd (a, n) = 1.
Property 1. (p) = p 1 for any prime p
Proof. By definition, p has no factors other than 1 and itself. Hence gcd (a, n) =
1 for all 1 < a < p. Thus, (p) = p 1.
Property 2. For any prime p and all a 1,
(pa ) = pa1 (p)
Proof. By property 1, pa 1 (pa ). Note that equality does not follow
because multiples of p are not relatively prime to pa . Excluding 1, there are
(pa /p) 1 = pa1 1 many factors. Therefore,
(pa ) = (pa 1) (pa1 1) = pa pa1 = pa1 (p 1) = pa1 (p).

Property 3. If a and b are relatively prime, then (ab) = (a)(b).

Proof. Notice that since gcd (a, b) = 1, lcm (a, b) = ab (and so we dont run
the risk of double counting).