On Incidences of φ and σ in the Function Field Setting
Patrick Meisner1
1 Tel Aviv University, Israel
Journal de théorie des nombres de Bordeaux, Volume 31 (2019) no. 2, pp. 403-415.

Erdős first conjectured that infinitely often we have φ(n)=σ(m), where φ is the Euler totient function and σ is the sum of divisors function. This was proven true by Ford, Luca and Pomerance in 2010. We ask the analogous question of whether infinitely often we have φ(F)=σ(G) where F and G are polynomials over some finite field 𝔽 q . We find that when q≠2 or 3, then this can only trivially happen when F=G=1. Moreover, we give a complete characterisation of the solutions in the case q=2 or 3. In particular, we show that φ(F)=σ(G) infinitely often when q=2 or 3.

Erdős a conjecturé qu’il existe une infinité de nombres n et m tels que φ(n)=σ(m), où φ est l’indicatrice d’Euler et σ est la fonction somme de diviseurs. Cette conjecture a été prouvée en 2010 par Ford, Luca et Pomerance. De façon analogue, on se demande s’il existe une infinité de polynômes F et G sur un corps fini 𝔽 q tels que φ(F)=σ(G). On trouve que si q≠2 ou 3, c’est vrai seulement dans le cas trivial F=G=1. De plus, on donne une caractérisation des solutions dans les cas q=2 et 3. En particulier, on montre que si q=2 ou 3, on a φ(F)=σ(G) pour une infinité de polynômes.

Received:
Accepted:
Published online:
DOI: 10.5802/jtnb.1088
Classification: 11N64
Keywords: Function Fields, Euler Totient Function, Primitive Divisors

Patrick Meisner 1

1 Tel Aviv University, Israel
License: CC-BY-ND 4.0
Copyrights: The authors retain unrestricted copyrights and publishing rights 
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Patrick Meisner. On Incidences of $\varphi $ and $\sigma $ in the Function Field Setting. Journal de théorie des nombres de Bordeaux, Volume 31 (2019) no. 2, pp. 403-415. doi : 10.5802/jtnb.1088. https://jtnb.centre-mersenne.org/articles/10.5802/jtnb.1088/

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