A statistical investigation of a divisor-sum function

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Aidun, Ivan, Thompson, Lola
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Aidun, Ivan
Thompson, Lola
author_facet Aidun, Ivan
Thompson, Lola
contents The sum of proper divisors function $s(n)$ has been studied for more than 2000 years. In this paper we study statistical properties of the related function $S_s(n) := \sum_{d \mid n} s(d)$. This function arises from a generalization of the practical numbers. We prove that $S_s(n)/n$ has a continuous asymptotic distribution function, and that its values are dense in the interval $[0,\infty)$. We also establish mean value computations for $S_s(n)$ and $S_s(n)/n$, and provide uniform bounds for the higher order moments of $S_s(n)/n$. The main novelty in this paper is that we highlight a new method of Lebowitz-Lockard and Pollack that is useful for showing that certain functions have a continuous distribution function where classical methods sometimes fail.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_05284
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A statistical investigation of a divisor-sum function
Aidun, Ivan
Thompson, Lola
Number Theory
The sum of proper divisors function $s(n)$ has been studied for more than 2000 years. In this paper we study statistical properties of the related function $S_s(n) := \sum_{d \mid n} s(d)$. This function arises from a generalization of the practical numbers. We prove that $S_s(n)/n$ has a continuous asymptotic distribution function, and that its values are dense in the interval $[0,\infty)$. We also establish mean value computations for $S_s(n)$ and $S_s(n)/n$, and provide uniform bounds for the higher order moments of $S_s(n)/n$. The main novelty in this paper is that we highlight a new method of Lebowitz-Lockard and Pollack that is useful for showing that certain functions have a continuous distribution function where classical methods sometimes fail.
title A statistical investigation of a divisor-sum function
topic Number Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.05284