The determinant of the least-common-multiple matrix

lax-426240·formalized by Joel Cruz Cabrera @joelcanary·registered·created ·GitHub @cafe603·Lean v4.33.0 epoch · mathlib db584cd6d46c

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    Abstract

    Smith (1875) showed that the determinant of the N×NN \times N matrix (gcd(i,j))\big(\gcd(i,j)\big) is φ(1)φ(N)\varphi(1)\cdots\varphi(N), and more generally that det(f(gcd(i,j)))=kNg(k)\det\big(f(\gcd(i,j))\big) = \prod_{k \le N} g(k) whenever f(m)=dmg(d)f(m) = \sum_{d \mid m} g(d). This submission evaluates the companion determinant of least common multiples. Since lcm(i,j)gcd(i,j)=ij\mathrm{lcm}(i,j)\gcd(i,j) = ij, the lcm matrix factors as DSDD S D with D=diag(1,,N)D = \mathrm{diag}(1,\dots,N) and Sij=1/gcd(i,j)S_{ij} = 1/\gcd(i,j), and 1/m1/m is the Dirichlet convolution of g=μ(1/)g = \mu * (1/\cdot) with the constant function 11 by Möbius inversion. Hence

    det(lcm(i,j))i,jN=(N!)2kNg(k)=N!kNpk(1p),\det\big(\mathrm{lcm}(i,j)\big)_{i,j \le N} = (N!)^2 \prod_{k \le N} g(k) = N!\prod_{k \le N}\prod_{p \mid k}(1 - p),

    using dnμ(d)d=pn(1p)\sum_{d \mid n}\mu(d)\,d = \prod_{p \mid n}(1-p) for every n1n \ge 1. The three statements are the determinant in terms of gg, the closed form g(n)=1npn(1p)g(n) = \tfrac{1}{n}\prod_{p\mid n}(1-p), and the closed form of the determinant. Smith's factorisation over a commutative ring and the Möbius product identity for arbitrary nn appear as helpers of the proofs and are not claimed as archive content.

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    This is only the formalizers. The authors of the formalized results may be different (see References).

    @misc{lax-426240,
      author = {Joel Cruz Cabrera},
      title = {The determinant of the least-common-multiple matrix},
      year = {2026},
      howpublished = {Lax Archive, lax-426240},
      url = {https://laxarchive.org/lax-426240/},
    }

    References

    1. Henry John Stephen Smith. On the value of a certain arithmetical determinant. Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 7:208–212, 1875.

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