What is the sum of all primitive 2 0 1 5 th roots of unity, w , meaning that 2015 is the smallest positive integer n such that w n = 1 ?
Extra Credit Question: What is the sum of the primitive 2 0 0 9 th roots of unity?
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it can be solved using vieta too
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show us how!
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x 2 0 1 5 − 1 = 0
using vieta, sum of roots = 0 but 1 is also a root so answer is -1
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@Dev Sharma – the question asks for 'primative' roots, meaning roots that first appear for 2015. some like e 5 2 π is noy considered to be primitive.
@Dev Sharma – You would have to use cyclotomic polynomials to do this with Viete
Exactly! Thank you for this elegant and lucid solution!
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The Möbius function is just what we needed, it is defined as the sum of the primitive n-th roots of unity. It is μ ( n ) , and if n has repeated prime factors, then μ ( n ) = 0 ; if n has an odd number of distinct prime factors, then μ ( n ) = − 1 ; and if n has an even number of distinct prime factors, then μ ( n ) = 1 .
We know that 2 0 1 5 = 5 × 1 3 × 3 1 , it has 3 distinct prime factors, hence μ ( 2 0 1 5 ) = − 1 .
For the bonus question, 2 0 0 9 = 7 2 × 4 1 , hence μ ( 2 0 0 9 ) = 0 .