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In mathematics, specifically number theory, a sparsely totient number is a natural number, n, such that for all m > n,

${\displaystyle \varphi (m)>\varphi (n)}$

where ${\displaystyle \varphi }$ is Euler's totient function. The first few sparsely totient numbers are:

2, 6, 12, 18, 30, 42, 60, 66, 90, 120, 126, 150, 210, 240, 270, 330, 420, 462, 510, 630, 660, 690, 840, 870, 1050, 1260, 1320, 1470, 1680, 1890, 2310, 2730, 2940, 3150, 3570, 3990, 4620, 4830, 5460, 5610, 5670, 6090, 6930, 7140, 7350, 8190, 9240, 9660, 9870, ... (sequence A036913 in the OEIS).

The concept was introduced by David Masser and Peter Man-Kit Shiu in 1986. As they showed, every primorial is sparsely totient.

Properties

• If P(n) is the largest prime factor of n, then ${\displaystyle \liminf P(n)/\log n=1}$.
• ${\displaystyle P(n)\ll \log ^{\delta }n}$ holds for an exponent ${\displaystyle \delta =37/20}$.
• It is conjectured that ${\displaystyle \limsup P(n)/\log n=2}$.

References

• Baker, Roger C.; Harman, Glyn (1996). "Sparsely totient numbers". Ann. Fac. Sci. Toulouse, VI. Sér., Math. 5 (2): 183–190. doi:10.5802/afst.826. ISSN 0240-2963. Zbl 0871.11060.
• Masser, D.W.; Shiu, P. (1986). "On sparsely totient numbers". Pac. J. Math. 121 (2): 407–426. doi:10.2140/pjm.1986.121.407. ISSN 0030-8730. MR 0819198. S2CID 55350630. Zbl 0538.10006.

• Integer sequences