§27.5 Inversion Formulas
If a Dirichlet series
generates
, and
generates
,
then the product
generates
called the Dirichlet product (or convolution) of
and
. The
set of all number-theoretic functions
with
forms an abelian
group under Dirichlet multiplication, with the function
in
(27.2.5) as identity element; see Apostol (1976, p. 129).
The multiplicative functions are a subgroup of this group. Generating
functions yield many relations connecting number-theoretic functions. For
example, the equation
is equivalent to the identity
which, in turn, is the basis for the Möbius inversion formula relating sums over divisors:
Special cases of Möbius inversion pairs are:
Other types of Möbius inversion formulas include:
For a general theory of Möbius inversion with applications to combinatorial theory see Rota (1964).

