Some mean values related to average multiplicative orders of elements in finite fields (Q2574042)

For any positive integer \(n\) let \(\alpha(n)\) denote the average order of elements in the cyclic group \(\mathbb Z_n\). In this note, we investigate the functions \(\alpha(n)/n\) and \(\alpha(n)/ \varphi(n)\) when \(n\) ranges through numbers of the form \(p-1\) with \(p\) prime, and when \(n\) ranges through numbers of the form \(2^m-1\) with \(m\) a positive integer. In particular, we show that such functions have limiting distributions, and we compute their average values, and their minimal and maximal orders. The following theorems are proved: Theorem 1. For any constant \(A > 0\) the following estimates are valid: \[ \frac 1{\pi(x)}\sum_{1<p<x}\frac{\alpha(p-1)}{p-1} =\prod_{p\geq 2}\biggl(1-\frac{p}{p^3-1}\biggr)+O\biggl(\frac 1{\log^A x}\biggr), \] and \[ \frac 1{\pi(x)}\sum_{1<p<x}\frac{\beta(p-1)}{p-1} =\prod_{p\geq 2}\biggl(1-\frac{p+1}{(p-1)(p^3-1)}\biggr)+O\biggl(\frac 1{\log^A x}\biggr). \] Theorem 2. The following estimates are valid: \[ \frac 1x \sum_{1\leq n<x}\frac{\alpha(2^n-1)}{2^n-1} = \sum_{n\geq 1, n\;\text{odd}}\frac{\gamma(n)}{t(n)} + O\biggl(\frac {\log x}x\biggr), \] and \[ \frac 1x \sum_{1\leq n<x}\frac{\beta(2^n-1)}{2^n-1} = \sum_{n\geq 1, n\;\text{odd}}\frac{\delta(n)}{t(n)} + O\biggl(\frac {\log x}x\biggr). \] Here for any odd positive integer \(k\), \(t(k)\) denotes the rank of apparition of \(k\) in the sequence of general term \(2n-1\), that is, \(t(k)\) is the smallest positive integer \(n\) such that \(2n-1\) is a multiple of \(k\). And finally, the result concerning limiting distributions for the above functions: For a positive integer \(k > 1\) write \(\zeta(k)\) for the Riemann zeta-function evaluated in \(k\). Theorem 3. Let \(Z := \zeta(2)\zeta(3)/\zeta(6).\) 1. Both functions \(\alpha(p-1)/p-1\) and \(\beta(p-1)\) have continuous limiting distributions in the intervals \([0, 1]\) and \([1, Z]\), respectively. 2. Both functions \(\alpha(2n-1)/(2n-1)\) and \(\beta(2n-1)\) have continuous limiting distributions in \([0, 1]\) and \([1, Z]\), respectively. Finally some generalizations (replacing the cyclic group \(\mathbb Z_n\) by any finite abelian group) are mentioned.