The value of X(100) is 3.1388241 ... As k -> infinity, the quantity X(k) tends towards π = 3.1415926 ... but rather slowly. Consider the fraction j / n. This fraction is not included in the Farey series if j and n share a common factor. It is only included if j and n are coprime. So the number of Farey fractions with denominator n is equal to the number of integers less than n which are coprime to n. The mathematician Leonhard Euler defined a function with this property: Euler's totient function φ(n) is defined to be the number of positive integers less than n which are coprime to n. For prime numbers p, φ(p) = p - 1. This is clearly an upper bound. The number of fractions in a Farey series of order n is: φ(2) + φ(3) + φ(4) + ... + φ(n). There is a remarkable formula involving the φ function and the constant π (pi), the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle. The sum φ(1) + φ(2) + φ(3) + φ(4) + ... + φ(n) tends towards 3 n2 / π2 as n increases! |