Simultaneous inequalities among values of the Euler phi-function

Abstract

This paper concerns the values of the Euler phi-function evaluated simultaneously on k arithmetic progressions a_1 n + b_1, a_2 n + b_2, ..., a_k n + b_k. Assuming the necessary condition that no two of the polynomials a_i x + b_i are constant multiples of each other, we show that there are infinitely many integers n for which phi(a_1 n + b_1) > phi(a_2 n + b_2) > ... > phi(a_k n + b_k). In particular, there exist infinitely many strings of k consecutive integers whose phi-values are arranged from largest to smallest in any prescribed manner. Also, under the necessary condition ad \ne bc, any inequality of the form phi(an+b) < phi(cn+d) infinitely often has k consecutive solutions. In fact, we prove that the sets of solutions to these inequalities have positive lower density.