Fix a field F. In this paper, we study the sets \D_F(n) \subset [0,n]
defined by [\D_F(n):= {0 \leq m \leq n: T^n-1\text{has a divisor of degree m
in} F[T]}.] When \D_F(n) consists of all integers m with 0β€mβ€n,
so that Tnβ1 has a divisor of every degree, we call n an F-practical
number. The terminology here is suggested by an analogy with the practical
numbers of Srinivasan, which are numbers n for which every integer 0β€mβ€Ο(n) can be written as a sum of distinct divisors of n. Our first
theorem states that, for any number field F and any xβ₯2,
[#{\text{F-practical nβ€x}} \asymp_{F} \frac{x}{\log{x}};] this extends
work of the second author, who obtained this estimate when F=\Q.
Suppose now that xβ₯3, and let m be a natural number in [3,x]. We
ask: For how many nβ€x does m belong to \D_F(n)? We prove upper
bounds in this problem for both F=\Q and F=\F_p (with p prime), the
latter conditional on the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis. In both cases, we
find that the number of such nβ€x is βͺFβx/(logm)2/35,
uniformly in m