Exercise 2.14

If f ( n ) is multiplicative, show that h ( n ) = ∑ ⁡ d ∣ n μ ( n ∕ d ) f ( d ) is also multiplicative.

Answers

Proof. We show first that the Dirichlet product f ∘ g of two multiplicative functions f , g is multiplicative. Suppose that n ∧ m = 1 . If d ∣ n , d ′ ∣ m , so δ = d d ′ ∣ nm , and conversely, if δ ∣ nm , as n ∧ m = 1 , there exist d , d ′ such that d ∣ n , d ′ ∣ m , and δ = d d ′ . Thus

( f ∘ g ) ( nm ) = ∑ δ ∣ nm f ( δ ) g ( nm δ ) = ∑ d ∣ n , d ′ ∣ m f ( d d ′ ) g ( nm d d ′ ) = ∑ d ∣ n ∑ d ′ ∣ m f ( d ) f ( d ′ ) g ( n d ) g ( m d ′ ) = ∑ d ∣ n f ( d ) g ( n d ) ∑ d ′ ∣ m f ( d ′ ) g ( m d ′ ) = ( f ∘ g ) ( n ) ( f ∘ g ) ( m )

Applying this result with g = μ , we obtain that n ↦ h ( n ) = ∑ ⁡ d ∣ n μ ( n ∕ d ) f ( d ) is multiplicative, if f is multiplicative. □

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2022-07-19 00:00
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