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Will Orrick (talk | contribs) Expand comparison with Euler's totient function in the introduction. Reorganize and shorten numerical examples. |
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==Numerical examples==
* {{math | ''n'' {{=}} 5}}. The set of numbers less than and coprime to 5 is {{math | {1,2,3,4}}}. Hence Euler's totient function has value {{math | ''φ''(5) {{=}} 4}} and the value of Carmichael's function, {{math | ''λ''(5)}}, must be a divisor of 4. The divisor 1 does not satisfy the definition of Carmichael's function since <math>a^1 \not\equiv 1\pmod{5}</math> except for <math>a\equiv1\pmod{5}</math>. Neither does 2 since <math>2^2 \equiv 3^2 \equiv 4 \not\equiv 1\pmod{5}</math>. Hence {{math | ''λ''(5) {{=}} 4}}. Indeed, <math>1^4\equiv 2^4\equiv 3^4\equiv 4^4\equiv1\pmod{5}</math>. Both 2 and 3 are primitive {{mvar | λ}}-roots modulo 5 and also [[Primitive root modulo n|primitive roots]] modulo 5.
* {{math | ''n'' {{=}} 8}}. The set of numbers less than and coprime to 8 is {{math | {1,3,5,7} }}. Hence {{math | ''φ''(8) {{=}} 4}} and {{math | ''λ''(8)}} must be a divisor of 4. In fact {{math | ''λ''(8) {{=}} 2}} since <math>1^2\equiv 3^2\equiv 5^2\equiv 7^2\equiv1\pmod{8}</math>. The primitive {{mvar | λ}}-roots modulo 8 are 3, 5, and 7. There are no primitive roots modulo 8.
== Recurrence for {{math | ''λ''(''n'')}} ==
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