Mertens' function, denoted as , is a mathematical function defined as the summation of the reciprocals of the prime numbers less than or equal to . Specifically, it is given by the formula:
where represents the prime numbers. The growth of Mertens' function has important implications in number theory, particularly in relation to the distribution of prime numbers. It is known that asymptotically behaves like , which means that as increases, the function grows very slowly compared to linear or polynomial growth. In fact, this slow growth indicates that the density of prime numbers decreases as one moves towards larger values of . Thus, Mertens' function serves as a crucial tool in understanding the fundamental properties of primes and their distribution in the number line.
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