Divisibility among power matrices associated with classes of arithmetic functions (Q2144589)

Let \(n,a\in\mathbb{Z}_+\), \(S=\{x_1,\dots,x_n\}\subset\mathbb{Z}_+\), and let \(f\) be an arithmetic function. Consider the matrix \((f^a(S))\) with \((i,j)\)th entry \(f(\gcd(x_i,x_j))^a\), and the matrix \((f^a[S])\) with \((i,j)\)th entry \(f(\mathrm{lcm}(x_i,x_j))^a\). Define that \(d\in S\) is a greatest-type divisor of \(x\in S\) if \(d<x\), \(d\mid x\), and \(y\in S\land d\mid y\mid x\Rightarrow y\in\{d,x\}\). Let \(G_S(x)\) be their set. Assuming that \(S\) is gcd closed (i.e., \(x,y\in S\Rightarrow\gcd(x,y)\in S\)) and \(\max_{x\in S}|G_S(x)|=1\) (\(|\cdot|\) denotes cardinality), let \(C_S=\{f:d\mid\mathrm{lcm}(S)\Rightarrow f(d)\in\mathbb{Z}\}\), \(D_S=\{f\in C_S:u,v\in S\land u\mid v\Rightarrow f(u)\mid f(v)\}\), and \(a\mid b\). The authors prove that if \(f\in C_S\), then \((f^a(S))\mid(f^b(S))\), and that if \(f\in D_S\) is multiplicative, then \((f^a(S))\mid(f^b[S])\). The results extend those of \textit{S. F. Hong} [Linear Algebra Appl. 428 (2008, 1001--1008; Zbl 1137.11017)], \textit{M. Li} and \textit{Q. R. Tan} [Discrete Math. 311 (2011, 2276--2282; Zbl 1261.11031)], and \textit{G. Y. Zhu} [Int. J. Number Theory 18 (2022, 1397--1408; Zbl 1496.11047)].