Proof that $sum_{dmid n}phi(d)=n$












3












$begingroup$


I am trying to understand a particular proof of the fact that $sum_{d|n}phi(d)=n$. I've seen different proofs of this statement, but I'm having trouble understanding the following one, given in "A Classical Introduction to Modern Number Theory". It goes as follows



"Consider the n rational numbers $1/n,2/n,...,n/n$. Reduce each to lowest terms; i.e, express each number as a quotient of relatively prime integers. The denominators will all be divisors of n. If d|n, exactly $phi(d)$ of our numbers will have $d$ in the denominator after reducing to lowest terms"



In particular, I'm having trouble seeing why exactly $phi(d)$ of the numbers will have d in the denominator. What am I missing?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$

















    3












    $begingroup$


    I am trying to understand a particular proof of the fact that $sum_{d|n}phi(d)=n$. I've seen different proofs of this statement, but I'm having trouble understanding the following one, given in "A Classical Introduction to Modern Number Theory". It goes as follows



    "Consider the n rational numbers $1/n,2/n,...,n/n$. Reduce each to lowest terms; i.e, express each number as a quotient of relatively prime integers. The denominators will all be divisors of n. If d|n, exactly $phi(d)$ of our numbers will have $d$ in the denominator after reducing to lowest terms"



    In particular, I'm having trouble seeing why exactly $phi(d)$ of the numbers will have d in the denominator. What am I missing?










    share|cite|improve this question











    $endgroup$















      3












      3








      3


      2



      $begingroup$


      I am trying to understand a particular proof of the fact that $sum_{d|n}phi(d)=n$. I've seen different proofs of this statement, but I'm having trouble understanding the following one, given in "A Classical Introduction to Modern Number Theory". It goes as follows



      "Consider the n rational numbers $1/n,2/n,...,n/n$. Reduce each to lowest terms; i.e, express each number as a quotient of relatively prime integers. The denominators will all be divisors of n. If d|n, exactly $phi(d)$ of our numbers will have $d$ in the denominator after reducing to lowest terms"



      In particular, I'm having trouble seeing why exactly $phi(d)$ of the numbers will have d in the denominator. What am I missing?










      share|cite|improve this question











      $endgroup$




      I am trying to understand a particular proof of the fact that $sum_{d|n}phi(d)=n$. I've seen different proofs of this statement, but I'm having trouble understanding the following one, given in "A Classical Introduction to Modern Number Theory". It goes as follows



      "Consider the n rational numbers $1/n,2/n,...,n/n$. Reduce each to lowest terms; i.e, express each number as a quotient of relatively prime integers. The denominators will all be divisors of n. If d|n, exactly $phi(d)$ of our numbers will have $d$ in the denominator after reducing to lowest terms"



      In particular, I'm having trouble seeing why exactly $phi(d)$ of the numbers will have d in the denominator. What am I missing?







      number-theory elementary-number-theory






      share|cite|improve this question















      share|cite|improve this question













      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question








      edited Dec 18 '18 at 19:22









      Bernard

      123k741117




      123k741117










      asked Dec 18 '18 at 19:11









      confusedmath confusedmath

      24918




      24918






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          4












          $begingroup$

          This is a good step to understand thoroughly, so let's work through it in detail.



          What has to be true about the numerator $a$ so that $a/n$ will have denominator $d$ in lowest terms—that is, so that $a/n = b/d$ with $gcd(b,d)=1$?




          • First of all, $a$ needs to be a multiple of $n/d$. You can either intuit this property from working on small examples (like $n=12$), or else note that $a/n = b/d$ means that $a=b(n/d)$. That means that $a=b(n/d)$ for some $b$ in the range ${1, dots, n/frac nd} = {1, dots d}$ (since $1le ale n$ to begin with).

          • Then, this number $b$ has to be relatively prime to $d$, by definition.


          So we simply have to count how many integers in the range ${1,dots,d}$ are relatively prime to $d$ ... and that's exactly what $phi(d)$ measures!






          share|cite|improve this answer









          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            Please consider reading my answer and give your comment.
            $endgroup$
            – Maged Saeed
            Dec 18 '18 at 19:45





















          0












          $begingroup$

          I tried to understand the argument and @Greg Martin answer was really helpful. However, I feel that it will be better if his answer includes the following as details:



          after writing the numbers:



          $frac{1}{n}, cdots frac{b_i}{d_j}, cdots, (frac{n}{n} = 1)$ where $d_j$ is obviously a divisor of $n$. Now, since every fraction $frac{b_1}{d_1}$ is irreducable i.e. with $gcd(b_i,d_j) = 1$, how many numbers of the form $frac{b_i}{d_j}$ are there? In other words, how many numbers $b_i$ that are relatively prime to $d_j$ exist?






          share|cite|improve this answer











          $endgroup$














            Your Answer





            StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
            return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
            StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
            StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
            });
            });
            }, "mathjax-editing");

            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "69"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3045568%2fproof-that-sum-d-mid-n-phid-n%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            4












            $begingroup$

            This is a good step to understand thoroughly, so let's work through it in detail.



            What has to be true about the numerator $a$ so that $a/n$ will have denominator $d$ in lowest terms—that is, so that $a/n = b/d$ with $gcd(b,d)=1$?




            • First of all, $a$ needs to be a multiple of $n/d$. You can either intuit this property from working on small examples (like $n=12$), or else note that $a/n = b/d$ means that $a=b(n/d)$. That means that $a=b(n/d)$ for some $b$ in the range ${1, dots, n/frac nd} = {1, dots d}$ (since $1le ale n$ to begin with).

            • Then, this number $b$ has to be relatively prime to $d$, by definition.


            So we simply have to count how many integers in the range ${1,dots,d}$ are relatively prime to $d$ ... and that's exactly what $phi(d)$ measures!






            share|cite|improve this answer









            $endgroup$













            • $begingroup$
              Please consider reading my answer and give your comment.
              $endgroup$
              – Maged Saeed
              Dec 18 '18 at 19:45


















            4












            $begingroup$

            This is a good step to understand thoroughly, so let's work through it in detail.



            What has to be true about the numerator $a$ so that $a/n$ will have denominator $d$ in lowest terms—that is, so that $a/n = b/d$ with $gcd(b,d)=1$?




            • First of all, $a$ needs to be a multiple of $n/d$. You can either intuit this property from working on small examples (like $n=12$), or else note that $a/n = b/d$ means that $a=b(n/d)$. That means that $a=b(n/d)$ for some $b$ in the range ${1, dots, n/frac nd} = {1, dots d}$ (since $1le ale n$ to begin with).

            • Then, this number $b$ has to be relatively prime to $d$, by definition.


            So we simply have to count how many integers in the range ${1,dots,d}$ are relatively prime to $d$ ... and that's exactly what $phi(d)$ measures!






            share|cite|improve this answer









            $endgroup$













            • $begingroup$
              Please consider reading my answer and give your comment.
              $endgroup$
              – Maged Saeed
              Dec 18 '18 at 19:45
















            4












            4








            4





            $begingroup$

            This is a good step to understand thoroughly, so let's work through it in detail.



            What has to be true about the numerator $a$ so that $a/n$ will have denominator $d$ in lowest terms—that is, so that $a/n = b/d$ with $gcd(b,d)=1$?




            • First of all, $a$ needs to be a multiple of $n/d$. You can either intuit this property from working on small examples (like $n=12$), or else note that $a/n = b/d$ means that $a=b(n/d)$. That means that $a=b(n/d)$ for some $b$ in the range ${1, dots, n/frac nd} = {1, dots d}$ (since $1le ale n$ to begin with).

            • Then, this number $b$ has to be relatively prime to $d$, by definition.


            So we simply have to count how many integers in the range ${1,dots,d}$ are relatively prime to $d$ ... and that's exactly what $phi(d)$ measures!






            share|cite|improve this answer









            $endgroup$



            This is a good step to understand thoroughly, so let's work through it in detail.



            What has to be true about the numerator $a$ so that $a/n$ will have denominator $d$ in lowest terms—that is, so that $a/n = b/d$ with $gcd(b,d)=1$?




            • First of all, $a$ needs to be a multiple of $n/d$. You can either intuit this property from working on small examples (like $n=12$), or else note that $a/n = b/d$ means that $a=b(n/d)$. That means that $a=b(n/d)$ for some $b$ in the range ${1, dots, n/frac nd} = {1, dots d}$ (since $1le ale n$ to begin with).

            • Then, this number $b$ has to be relatively prime to $d$, by definition.


            So we simply have to count how many integers in the range ${1,dots,d}$ are relatively prime to $d$ ... and that's exactly what $phi(d)$ measures!







            share|cite|improve this answer












            share|cite|improve this answer



            share|cite|improve this answer










            answered Dec 18 '18 at 19:19









            Greg MartinGreg Martin

            36.5k23565




            36.5k23565












            • $begingroup$
              Please consider reading my answer and give your comment.
              $endgroup$
              – Maged Saeed
              Dec 18 '18 at 19:45




















            • $begingroup$
              Please consider reading my answer and give your comment.
              $endgroup$
              – Maged Saeed
              Dec 18 '18 at 19:45


















            $begingroup$
            Please consider reading my answer and give your comment.
            $endgroup$
            – Maged Saeed
            Dec 18 '18 at 19:45






            $begingroup$
            Please consider reading my answer and give your comment.
            $endgroup$
            – Maged Saeed
            Dec 18 '18 at 19:45













            0












            $begingroup$

            I tried to understand the argument and @Greg Martin answer was really helpful. However, I feel that it will be better if his answer includes the following as details:



            after writing the numbers:



            $frac{1}{n}, cdots frac{b_i}{d_j}, cdots, (frac{n}{n} = 1)$ where $d_j$ is obviously a divisor of $n$. Now, since every fraction $frac{b_1}{d_1}$ is irreducable i.e. with $gcd(b_i,d_j) = 1$, how many numbers of the form $frac{b_i}{d_j}$ are there? In other words, how many numbers $b_i$ that are relatively prime to $d_j$ exist?






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$


















              0












              $begingroup$

              I tried to understand the argument and @Greg Martin answer was really helpful. However, I feel that it will be better if his answer includes the following as details:



              after writing the numbers:



              $frac{1}{n}, cdots frac{b_i}{d_j}, cdots, (frac{n}{n} = 1)$ where $d_j$ is obviously a divisor of $n$. Now, since every fraction $frac{b_1}{d_1}$ is irreducable i.e. with $gcd(b_i,d_j) = 1$, how many numbers of the form $frac{b_i}{d_j}$ are there? In other words, how many numbers $b_i$ that are relatively prime to $d_j$ exist?






              share|cite|improve this answer











              $endgroup$
















                0












                0








                0





                $begingroup$

                I tried to understand the argument and @Greg Martin answer was really helpful. However, I feel that it will be better if his answer includes the following as details:



                after writing the numbers:



                $frac{1}{n}, cdots frac{b_i}{d_j}, cdots, (frac{n}{n} = 1)$ where $d_j$ is obviously a divisor of $n$. Now, since every fraction $frac{b_1}{d_1}$ is irreducable i.e. with $gcd(b_i,d_j) = 1$, how many numbers of the form $frac{b_i}{d_j}$ are there? In other words, how many numbers $b_i$ that are relatively prime to $d_j$ exist?






                share|cite|improve this answer











                $endgroup$



                I tried to understand the argument and @Greg Martin answer was really helpful. However, I feel that it will be better if his answer includes the following as details:



                after writing the numbers:



                $frac{1}{n}, cdots frac{b_i}{d_j}, cdots, (frac{n}{n} = 1)$ where $d_j$ is obviously a divisor of $n$. Now, since every fraction $frac{b_1}{d_1}$ is irreducable i.e. with $gcd(b_i,d_j) = 1$, how many numbers of the form $frac{b_i}{d_j}$ are there? In other words, how many numbers $b_i$ that are relatively prime to $d_j$ exist?







                share|cite|improve this answer














                share|cite|improve this answer



                share|cite|improve this answer








                edited Dec 18 '18 at 19:54

























                answered Dec 18 '18 at 19:44









                Maged SaeedMaged Saeed

                8821417




                8821417






























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3045568%2fproof-that-sum-d-mid-n-phid-n%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Plaza Victoria

                    In PowerPoint, is there a keyboard shortcut for bulleted / numbered list?

                    How to put 3 figures in Latex with 2 figures side by side and 1 below these side by side images but in...