Euler’s Phi Function

• Let φ(n) denote the number of positive integers

m ∈ { 1, 2, . . . , n } such that gcd(m, n) = 1, where n ≥ 2.
– φ(p) = p − 1 for prime p.
– φ(1) = 1 by convention.
• It is a computationally hard problem without the
knowledge of n’s factorization.
– Related to the security of some cryptographical
systems such as RSA.

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 Euler’s Phi Function: The Formula
Theorem 61 Let n = pe11 pe22 · · · pet t be the prime
factorization of n. Then
t  
1
φ(n) = n 1− .
i=1
p i

• Let ci be the condition that a number from { 1, 2, . . . , n }

is divisible by pi .
• The desired number is
φ(n) = N (c1 c2 · · · ct ).

• For distinct i1 , i2 , . . . , ik ,
n
N (ci1 ci2 · · · cik ) = .
pi1 pi2 · · · pik

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 The Proof (concluded)
• By the principle of inclusion and exclusion,

φ(n)
= N (c1 c2 · · · ct )
t
 
k n
= (−1)
pi1 pi2 · · · pik
k=0 1≤i1 <···<ik ≤t
t
 
k 1
= n (−1)
pi1 pi2 · · · pik
k=0 1≤i1 <···<ik ≤t
t 
 
1
= n 1− . (51)
i=1
pi

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 An Example
• Suppose n = pe11 pe22 pe33 .
• Then
φ(n)
   
1 1 1
= n 1− 1− 1−
p1 p2 p3
    
1 1 1 1 1 1
= n 1− + + + + +
p1 p2 p3 p1 p2 p1 p3 p2 p3

1
− .
p1 p2 p3

• This may help convince you that Eq. (51) on 423 is

correct.

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 Application: φ(2n )

φ(2n )
  
1
= 2n 1−
p
p | 2n ,p prime
 
1
= 2n 1 −
2
= 2n−1 .

Indeed, the only numbers in { 1, 2, . . . , 2n } relatively prime

with 2 are the 2n /2 = 2n−1 odd numbers.

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 Euler’s Phi Function Is Multiplicative
• Let n = m1 m2 , where gcd(m1 , m2 ) = 1.
• Let m1 = pe11 pe22 · · · pess be the prime factorization of m1 .
e e
• Let m2 = ps+1
s+1 s+2
ps+2 · · · pet t be the prime factorization of
m2 .
• From the formula on p. 422,
φ(m1 m2 ) = φ(n)
t  
1
= n 1−
i=1
pi
s   t  
1 1
= m1 1− m2 1−
i=1
pi i=s+1
pi
= φ(m1 ) φ(m2 ).

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 An Identity for Euler’s Phi Function
Theorem 62 Let 1 = d1 < d2 < · · · < dm = n be the
+
m
positive divisors of n ∈ Z . Then i=1 φ(di ) = n.
• Define

Ai ≡ { k ∈ Z+ : gcd(k, n) = di , k ≤ n }.

• { A1 , A2 , . . . , Am } is a partition of { 1, 2, . . . , n }.
– For 1 ≤ i ≤ n, gcd(i, n) ∈ { d1 , d2 , . . . , dm }.
– And gcd(i, n) is unique.
m
• Thus n = i=1 | Ai |.

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 The Proof (concluded)
• Now, k ∈ Ai if and only if k ≤ n and

gcd(k/di , n/di ) = 1.

• Hence

| Ai | = | { j ∈ Z+ : j ≤ n/di , gcd(j, n/di ) = 1 } |,

which equals φ(n/di ) by the definition of the phi

function.
• Finally,
m
 m
 m

n= | Ai | = φ(n/di ) = φ(di ).
i=1 i=1 i=1

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 A Loose Lower Bound for the Phi Functiona
Theorem 63 (Hardy & Wright, 1979)
φ(n) > n/(6 ln ln n) for n > 3.
a Godfrey Harold Hardy (1877–1947) and Edward Maitland Wright
(1906–2005).

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 Godfrey Harold Hardy (1877–1947)

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 Permutations without Fixed Points
• Write a permutation f on { 1, 2, . . . , n } as
⎛ ⎞
1 2 ··· n
⎝ ⎠
f (1) f (2) ··· f (n)

• There are n! permutations.

• Permutation f has a fixed point at i if f (i) = i.
– i is invariant under f .
m
 

• When i is a fixed point, then f f · · · f (i) = i for any

m ≥ 0.

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 Number of Permutations without Fixed Points
What is the number of permutations without fixed points?
• Let FX be the number of permutations that fix all i ∈ X.
• By the principle of inclusion and exclusion, the desired
number isa

(−1)|X| FX .
X⊆{ 1,2,...,n }

• FX = (n − | X |)! as those numbers not in X form a

permutation.
a Let ci denote the condition that i is a fixed
point. Then the desired number is N (c1 c2 · · · cn ) =
n k

k=0 (−1) 1≤i1 <i2 <···<ik ≤n N (ci1 ci2 · · · cik ) =
n k
  |X| F .
k=0 (−1) F
{ i1 ,i2 ,...,ik } { i1 ,i2 ,...,ik } = X⊆{ 1,2,...,n } (−1) X

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 The Proof (concluded)
• The desired number is
 n
  
n
(−1)|X| (n − |X|)! = (−1)k (n − k)!
k
X⊆{ 1,2,...,n } k=0
n
 (−1)k
= n! (52)
k!
k=0
n!
≈ ,
e
where e = 2.71828 . . . .
• A constant fraction of permutations have no fixed points!
• Or, if one picks a random permutation, with roughly
40% chance, that permutation will have no fixed points!

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 Derangements (Also P. 432)
• A derangement is a permutation of 1, 2, . . . , n in which
1 is not in the first place, 2 is not in the second place,
etc.a
• How many derangements of 1, 2, . . . , n are there?
• Let ci denote the condition that i is in the ith place.
• The desired number is N (c1 c2 · · · cn ), which equals
n   n
Δ n 1 n!
dn = (−1)i (n − i)! = n! (−1)i ≈ (53)
i=0
i i=0
i! e

by Eq. (52) on p. 434.

a Just a permutation without fixed points!

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 A Combinatorial Identity for dn
• Let dk denote the number of derangements of 1, 2, . . . , k.
• By convention, d0 = 1.
• Any permutation of 1, 2, . . . , n can have n − k fixed
points for some k, with the rest being deranged.
 n  n
• There are n−k = k choices for the fixed points.
• Hence
n  
 n
n! = dk . (54)
k
k=0

• Alternatively,
n
 dk
1= .
k! (n − k)!
k=0

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 An Example
One can numerically verify identity (54) on p. 436 with the
following data:

d0 = 1, d1 = 0,
d2 = 1, d3 = 2,
d4 = 9, d5 = 44,
d6 = 265,
d7 = 1854,
d8 = 14833,
d9 = 133496,
d10 = 1334961.

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 A Variation on Derangement
• How many permutations of 1, 2, . . . , n are there such
that i is not in the (i − 1)st place for 2 ≤ i ≤ n?
– For example, 12345 (but not 23451).
• Let ci denote the condition that i is in the (i − 1)st place.
• Now N (ci ) = (n − 1)!, N (ci cj ) = (n − 2)! with i = j, etc.
• The desired number N (c2 c3 · · · cn ) equals
   
n−1 n−1
n! − (n − 1)! + (n − 2)! − · · ·
1 2
by the principle of inclusion and exclusion.

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 A Variation on Derangement (continued)


n−1
n−1
(−1)i (n − i)!
i=0
i

n−1
(n − 1)! (n − i)
= (−1)i
i=0
i!

n−1
(n − 1)! (n − i)
= n! + (−1)i
i=1
i!

n−1
i n!
 n−1
(n − 1)!
= n! + (−1) − (−1)i
i=1
i! i=1
(i − 1)!

n−1
i n!

n−1
(n − 1)!
= (−1) − (−1)i
i=0
i! i=1
(i − 1)!

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 A Variation on Derangement (concluded)


n−1
i n!

n−2
(n − 1)!
= (−1) + (−1)i
i=0
i! i=0
i!

n−1
i n! 
n−2
(n − 1)!
= (−1) + (−1)i
i=0
i! i=0
i!
 
n! (n − 1)!
+ (−1)n + (−1)n−1
n! (n − 1)!

n
i n!
 n−1
(n − 1)!
= (−1) + (−1)i
i=0
i! i=0
i!
= dn + dn−1 (55)

from Eq. (53) on p. 435.

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 A Simpler Proof
• Again, how many permutations of 1, 2, . . . , n are there
such that i is not in the (i − 1)st place for 2 ≤ i ≤ n?
• Consider a permutation of 1, 2, . . . , n, where
1. i is not in the (i − 1)st place for 2 ≤ i ≤ n.
2. 1 is not in the nth place.
• There are dn of such permutations as they are but
derangements with the location restrictions shifted.
• The 2nd condition that 1 is not in the nth place is extra.
• So we need to add to dn the number of permutations
that satisfy condition 1 but not condition 2.

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 A Simpler Proof (concluded)
• So consider permutations of 1, 2, . . . , n such that
1. i is not in the (i − 1)st place for 2 ≤ i ≤ n.
2. 1 is in the nth place.
• Remove 1 and rename i as i − 1 for 2 ≤ i ≤ n.
• The results are permutations of 1, 2, . . . , n − 1 such that
i is not in the ith place for 1 ≤ i ≤ n − 1.
• They are simply derangements of 1, 2, . . . , n − 1.
• Their count is dn−1 , as desired.

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 Another Variation on Derangement
• Let A ⊆ { 1, 2, . . . , n }.
• How many permutations of 1, 2, . . . , n induce a
derangement of A?
– The original derangement is a special case with
A = { 1, 2, . . . , n }.
• Assume A = { 1, 2, . . . , m }, where m ≤ n, without loss
of generality.
• Let ci denote the condition that i is in the ith place.

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 Another Variation on Derangement (concluded)
• The desired number is N (c1 c2 · · · cm ), which equals
m  
m
(−1)i (n − i)!
i=0
i

by the principle of inclusion and exclusion.

• Compare it with dn in Eq. (53) on p. 435:
n  
i n
(−1) (n − i)!.
i=0
i

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 Integer Solutions of a Linear Equation with Upper Bounds
Theorem 64 The number of integer solutions of
x1 + x2 + · · · + xn = r, where 0 ≤ x1 , x2 , . . . , xn < b, is
r/b
   
n n + r − mb − 1
(−1)m . (56)
m=0
m r − mb

• The number of nonnegative integer solutions of

x1 + x2 + · · · + xn = r

is  
Δ n+r−1
N=
r
by p. 85.

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 The Proof (continued)
• Now impose upper bounds

0 ≤ x1 , x2 , . . . , xn < b.

• Let ci denote the condition that b ≤ xi .

• N (ci ): The number of solutions satisfying ci equals
 
n+r−b−1
r−b
as we are solving x1 + x2 + · · · + xn = r − b for
nonnegative integer solutions.

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 The Proof (continued)
• N (ci cj ): The number of solutions satisfying ci ∧ cj with
i = j equals  
n + r − 2b − 1
r − 2b
as we are solving x1 + x2 + · · · + xn = r − 2b.
• And so on.
• Of course, we cannot satisfy more than
r/b conditions
ci .

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 The Proof (continued)
• Our goal is
N (c1 c2 · · · cn ).

• Recall the inclusion-exclusion principle (47) on p. 415:a

r/b

N (c1 c2 · · · cn ) = (−1)m Sm .
m=0

a The definition of Sm appeared on p. 414.

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 The Proof (concluded)
n
• The number of N (ci ) terms in S1 is 1 .
n
• The number of N (ci cj ) terms in S2 is 2 .
• And so on.
• Finally,
r/b

N (c1 c2 · · · cn ) = (−1)m Sm
m=0
r/b
   
m n n + r − mb − 1
= (−1) .
m=0
m r − mb

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 An Example
• What is the number of positive integers x, where
x ≤ 999, whose sum of the 3 digits equals 20?
– E.g., 389 and 776.
• Use xi to denote x’s ith digit.
• Now the problem is equivalent to x1 + x2 + x3 = 20,
where 0 ≤ xi < 10.
• Equation (56) on p. 445 says the answer is
33+20−1 33+20−10−1 33+20−20−1
0 20 − 1 20−10 + 2 20−20 = 36.

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 Generalized Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion Em
• Let Em denote the number of elements in S that satisfy
exactly m of the t conditions.
– The principle of inclusion and exclusion corresponds
to E0 .
– Recall Eq. (47) on p. 415:

E0 = S0 − S1 + S2 − · · · + (−1)t St .

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 Generalized Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion Em
(concluded)
• Thena
   
m+1 m+2
Em = Sm − Sm+1 + Sm+2
1 2
 
t−m t
− · · · + (−1) St
t−m
t  
k
= (−1)k−m Sk
k−m
k=m
t  
k−m k
= (−1) Sk . (57)
m
k=m

a The definition of Sk appeared on p. 415.

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 The Proof
• If x ∈ S satisfies fewer than m conditions, then x should
contribute zero to Em .
– Indeed, it contributes zero to

Sm , Sm+1 , . . . , St .

• If x ∈ S satisfies exactly m conditions, then x should

contribute one to Em .
– It contributes one to Sm .
– It contributes zero to

Sm+1 , Sm+2 , . . . , St .

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 The Proof (continued)
• If x ∈ S satisfies m < r ≤ t of the conditions ci , then x
should contribute zero to Em .
r a
 r 
• Indeed, it is counted m times in Sm , m+1 times in
r 
Sm+1 , . . ., and r times in Sr .
• It is counted zero times for all terms beyond Sr .
• The total count is therefore
r
   
k r
(−1)k−m .
m k
k=m

a Recall Eq. (48) on p. 415.

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 The Proof (concluded)
By Newton’s identity (p. 32),
r    r   
k−m k r k−m r r−m
(−1) = (−1)
m k m k−m
k=m k=m
r−m
   
r r−m
= (−1)k
m k
k=0
  r−m
  
r r−m
= (−1)k
m k
k=0
 
r
= (1 − 1)r−m = 0.
m

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 Permutations with m Fixed Points
• Recall from p. 432 that a bijective function f on
{ 1, 2, . . . , n } has a fixed point at i if f (i) = i.
• What is the number of permutations with m fixed
points?
• Let ci denote the condition that i is a fixed point.
• Thena  
n n!
Sk = (n − k)! = . (58)
k k!
a The definition of Sk appeared on p. 415.

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 The Proof (concluded)
• From Eq. (57) on p. 452,
n
  
k
Em = (−1)k−m Sk
k−m
k=m
n  
k−m k n!
= (−1)
k − m k!
k=m
n
n!  k−m 1
= (−1) .
m! (k − m)!
k=m

• For example, En−2 = n(n − 1)/2 (permutations with

n − 2 fixed points).

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 Generalized Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion Lm
• Let Lm denote the number of elements in S that satisfy
at least m of the t conditions.
• Thena
   
m m+1
Lm = Sm − Sm+1 + Sm+2
m−1 m−1
 
t−1
− · · · + (−1)t−m St
m−1
t  
k − 1
= (−1)k−m Sk . (59)
m−1
k=m

a Compare
t k−m
k
it with Eq. (57) on p. 452: Em = k=m (−1) m
Sk .

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 The Proof
• By definition,
Lm − Lm+1 = Em
for m < t by definition.
• Now we prove the identity by induction on m.
• First note that Et = Lt = St .
• Inductively, assume that
t
  
k−(m+1) k − 1
Lm+1 = (−1) Sk .
m
k=m+1

t k−m k
 
• Also Em = k=m (−1) m Sk from (57) on p. 452.

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 The Proof (concluded)
• Finally, Lm equals

Lm+1 + Em
 

t
k−1 
t
k
= (−1)k−(m+1) Sk + (−1)k−m Sk
m m
k=m+1 k=m
   
t
k−1 k
= Sm + (−1)k−m − + Sk
m m
k=m+1

t
k−1
= Sm + (−1)k−m Sk by Lemma 2 on p. 31
m−1
k=m+1

t
k−1
= (−1)k−m Sk .
m−1
k=m

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 Permutations with Fixed Points
• Consider permutations of { 1, 2, . . . , n }.
• Let ci stand for the condition that i is a fixed point.
• From Eq. (59) on p. 458 with m = 1, the number of
permutations with at least one fixed point is
t

L1 = (−1)k−1 Sk .
k=1

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 The Proof (concluded)
• Recall that Eq. (58) on p. 456 says
n!
Sk = .
k!
• Hencea
n

L1 = (−1)k−1 Sk
k=1
n

k−1 1
= n! (−1) (60)
k!
k=1
 
1
≈ n! 1 − .
e
a An alternative proof is via Eq. (52) on p. 434.

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 Checking for Consistency
• The sum of the number of permutations without fixed
points (E0 ) and those with fixed points (L1 ) should be
n!.
• Indeed, from Eq. (52) on p. 434 for E0 and Eq. (60) on
p. 462 for L1 ,
n
 n

(−1)k (−1)k−1
n! + n! = n!.
k! k!
k=0 k=1

• Note that E0 is dn , the number of derangements.

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