On recurrent mod p sequences.
Let σ(n) denote the sum of positive divisors of the integer n, and let ϕ denote Euler's function, that is, ϕ(n) is the number of integers in the interval [1,n] that are relatively prime to n. It has been conjectured by Mąkowski and Schinzel that σ(ϕ(n))/n ≥ 1/2 for all n. We show that σ(ϕ(n))/n → ∞ on a set of numbers n of asymptotic density 1. In addition, we study the average order of σ(ϕ(n))/n as well as its range. We use similar methods to prove a conjecture of Erdős that ϕ(n-ϕ(n)) < ϕ(n)...
If n is a positive integer such that ϕ(n)σ(n) = m² for some positive integer m, then m ≤ n. We put m = n-a and we study the positive integers a arising in this way.