In number theory, the radical of a positive integer n is defined as the product of the distinct prime numbers dividing n (each prime factor of n occurs exactly once as a factor of the product mentioned):
Radical numbers for the first few positive integers are
For example,
and therefore
The function is multiplicative (but not completely multiplicative).
The radical of any integer n is the largest square-free divisor of n and so also described as the square-free kernel of n. The definition is generalized to the largest t-free divisor of n, , which are multiplicative functions which act on prime powers as
The cases t=3 and t=4 are tabulated in and .