Definition
Given an integer \(n\). Euler's totient function is a function that counts the positive integers up to \(n\) that are relatively prime to \(n\). It is denoted with \(\phi(n)\).


Alternatively, it is the the number of integers \(k\) in the range \(1 \leq k \leq n\) for which \(gcd(n,k)=1\).

Example

Take \(n = 9\). The numbers \(1,2,4,5,7\) and \(8\) are relatively prime to \(9\) while \(3,6\) and \(9\) are not. Therefore \(\phi(9) = 6\).

Computing Euler Totient's Function

One formula that computes Euler’s Totient’s function is the following

$$ \begin{align*} \phi(n) = n \prod_{p|n} \big( 1 - \frac{1}{p} \big). \end{align*} $$

where \(p\) is a distinct prime factor of \(n\). For example, for \(9\),

$$ \begin{align*} \phi(9) &= 9 \big( 1 - \frac{1}{3} \big) \\ &= 9 \big( \frac{2}{3} \big) = 6. \end{align*} $$


Multiplicative Function

Euler’s Totient’s function is a multiplicative function. This means that if \(m\) and \(n\) are relatively prime, then \(\phi(mn) = \phi(m)(n)\) which makes sense since they won’t share any prime divisors.



References