Uncertainty principles connected with the Möbius inversion formula (Q2872012)

Two arithmetic functions \(f\) and \(g\) form a Möbius pair if \(f(n) = \sum_{d \mid n} g(d)\) for all natural numbers \(n\). In that case, \(g\) can be expressed in terms of \(f\) by the familiar Möbius inversion formula of elementary number theory. \textit{P. Pollack} [Elem. Math. 66, No. 3, 118--120 (2011; Zbl 1229.11011)] proved the following uncertainty principle: if the members \(f\) and \(g\) of a Möbius pair are both finitely supported, then both functions vanish identically. In the present paper the authors prove the following stronger versions of this principle.NEWLINENEWLINESuppose that \((f, g)\) is a nonzero Möbius pair. (i) If \(\sum_{n \in \mathrm{supp}(g)} 1/n\) converges, then \(\mathrm{supp}(f)\) possesses a positive asymptotic density. (Here \(\mathrm{supp}(f)\) denotes the set of positive integers \(n\) for which \(f(n)\neq 0\).) (ii) If \(\sum_{n=1}^\infty |g(n)|/n\) converges, then \(|f|\) possesses a nonzero mean value. The same results (i) and (ii) hold with the roles of \(f\) and \(g\) reversed. A corollary of (i) is that in a nonzero Möbius pair one cannot have both \(\sum_{n \in \mathrm{supp}(f)} 1/n<\infty\) and \(\sum_{n \in \mathrm{supp}(g)} 1/n<\infty\).NEWLINENEWLINEThe authors also prove that the asymptotic densities of \(\mathrm{supp}(f)\) and \(\mathrm{supp}(g)\) can be arbitrarily prescribed, that is, for any \(\alpha, \beta\in [0, 1]\), one can find a nonzero Möbius pair \((f, g)\) for which \({\mathbf d}(\mathrm{supp}(f))=\alpha\) and \({\mathbf d}(\mathrm{supp}(g))=\beta\), where \({\mathbf d}\) means the asymptotic density. Moreover, \(f\) and \(g\) can be chosen as multiplicative functions.