On exact coverings of the integers

Abstract

By an exact covering of modulusm, we mean a finite set of liner congruencesx≡a _i (modm _i ), (i=1,2,...r) with the properties: (I)m _i ∣m, (i=1,2,...,r); (II) Each integer satisfies precisely one of the congruences. Let α≥0, β≥0, be integers and letp andq be primes. Let μ (m) senote the Möbius function. Letm=p ^α q ^β and letT(m) be the number of exact coverings of modulusm. Then,T(m) is given recursively by

$$\mathop \Sigma \limits_{d/m} \mu (d)\left( {T\left( {\frac{m}{d}} \right)} \right)^d = 1$$

.