Coprime partitions and Jordan totient functions (Q2668925)

An integer partition \(\lambda = \lambda_1+\lambda_2+\cdots+ \lambda_k\) with \(\lambda_1\ge \lambda_2\ge \cdots \ge \lambda_k\) is called coprime if \(\gcd(\lambda_1, \lambda_2, \ldots , \lambda_k)=1\). Let \(p_k'(n)\) denote the number of coprime partitions of \(n\) into \(k\) parts. In contrast to the fact that the number of coprime compositions of \(n\) into \(k\) parts can be expressed as a \(\mathbb{Q}\)-linear combination of the Jordan totient functions, the authors find that this never happens to \(p_k'(n)\). However, when \(k=2\) or \(3\), the authors show that \(p_k'(n)\) has a unique representation as a \(\mathbb{C}\)-linear combination of the Jordan totient functions for sufficiently large \(n\), and such \(k\)'s are the only two choices. On the other hand, if one generalizes the Jordan totient functions such that a root of unity is associated, then \(p_k'(n)\) can be always expressed as a \(\mathbb{C}\)-linear combination of such Jordan root totient functions.