Euler Totient Function Equations (Problem 3 3 )

Let f ( n ) = ϕ ( n ) f(n) = \phi(n) , where ϕ ( ) \phi(\cdot) denotes the Euler's totient function . Find the minimum value of m m such that f m ( 180 ) = 1 f^m (180) = 1 .


The answer is 6.

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1 solution

Yajat Shamji
Aug 8, 2020

ϕ n \phi_n denotes how many times Euler's totient function can be applied before the result reaches 0 0 - an iterative form of Euler's totient function.

From this:

ϕ ( 180 ) = 48 \phi(180) = 48 ( 1 ) (1)

ϕ ( 48 ) = 16 \phi(48) = 16 ( 2 ) (2)

ϕ ( 16 ) = 8 \phi(16) = 8 ( 3 ) (3)

ϕ ( 8 ) = 4 \phi(8) = 4 ( 4 ) (4)

ϕ ( 4 ) = 2 \phi(4) = 2 ( 5 ) (5)

ϕ ( 2 ) = 1 \phi(2) = 1 ( 6 ) (6)

Therefore, n = 6 n = \fbox 6

ϕ ( 1 ) = 1 0 \phi(1) = \red 1 \ne 0 . Refer to WolframAlpha and Wikipedia .

Chew-Seong Cheong - 10 months ago

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Great! @Chew-Seong Cheong

Yajat Shamji - 10 months ago

It looks like you've reworded the question; but now the answer is 6 6 .

Chris Lewis - 10 months ago

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You're right. I've updated the answer to 6 . Those who previously answered 6 has been marked correct.

Brilliant Mathematics Staff - 10 months ago

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