Paper 2, Section II, I

Number Theory
Part II, 2021

Define the Möbius function μ\mu, and explain what it means for it to be multiplicative.

Show that for every positive integer nn

dnμ(d)2ϕ(d)=nϕ(n)\sum_{d \mid n} \frac{\mu(d)^{2}}{\phi(d)}=\frac{n}{\phi(n)}

where ϕ\phi is the Euler totient function.

Fix an integer k1k \geqslant 1. Use the Chinese remainder theorem to show that there are infinitely many positive integers nn for which

μ(n)=μ(n+1)==μ(n+k)\mu(n)=\mu(n+1)=\cdots=\mu(n+k)