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Number theory Difficulty 6.2 National Olympiad Prove it Thailand

Determine a five-digit positive integer nn (in base 10) whose digit sum is least and n31n^3 - 1 is divisible by 25562556.

Solution

We first show that for nNn \in \mathbb{N}, the integer n31n^3-1 is divisible by 2556=2232712556 = 2^2 \cdot 3^2 \cdot 71 if and only if it is of the form n=852k+1n = 852k + 1 (kNk \in \mathbb{N}).
(⇒) If 2556(n31)2556 \mid (n^3 - 1), then
n31(mod223271)(1) n^3 \equiv 1 \pmod{2^2 \cdot 3^2 \cdot 71} \quad (1)
and so n31(mod71)n^3 \equiv 1 \pmod{71}. Since 71n71 \nmid n, Fermat's little theorem implies that n701(mod71)n^{70} \equiv 1 \pmod{71}, thus
1nn69n(n3)23n(1)23n(mod71),1 \equiv n \cdot n^{69} \equiv n(n^3)^{23} \equiv n(1)^{23} \equiv n \pmod{71},
i.e.,
71(n1).(2) 71 \mid (n-1). \quad (2)
From (1), we see that 4n31=(n1)(n2+n+1)4 \mid n^3 - 1 = (n-1)(n^2 + n + 1). Since n2+n+1=n(n+1)+1n^2 + n + 1 = n(n+1) + 1 is odd, we have
4(n1).(3) 4 \mid (n-1). \quad (3)
If 3(n1)3 \nmid (n-1), then 3n(n+1)3 \mid n(n+1), so that 3n(n+1)+1=n2+n+13 \nmid n(n+1) + 1 = n^2 + n + 1, yielding 3n313 \nmid n^3 - 1, contradicting (1). Thus,
3(n1).(4) 3 \mid (n-1). \quad (4)
The three divisibility conditions (2)-(4) show that n=(3×4×71×k)+1=852k+1n = (3 \times 4 \times 71 \times k)+1 = 852k + 1 for some kNk \in \mathbb{N}.
(↔) If nn is of the form n=852k+1n = 852k + 1 (kNk \in \mathbb{N}), then
n31=(n1)(n(n1)+2(n1)+3)=2556k(284nk+568k+1). n^3 - 1 = (n-1)(n(n-1) + 2(n-1) + 3) = 2556k(284nk + 568k + 1).
To solve the problem, we must determine a five-digit nn of the form 852k+1852k+1 with least digit sum. Since 852k852k does not end with 9, it suffices to find an integer of the form 852k852k with least digit sum. Since 4852k4 \mid 852k, the integer formed from its last two digits are also divisible by 4. To find the integer with least digit sum, we observe that a five-digit integer of the form abc00abc00 is divisible by 4 and has two 0 digits making it a good candidate. Since 3 and 71 are factors of the required integer and since 100 is not divisible by 3 nor by 71, we need abcabc to be divisible by 3×71=2133 \times 71 = 213, which has digit sum 6. We anticipate that 21300 is the sought after integer. To verify this, consider other integers with digit sums < 6 and last two digits divisible by 4. All of them are abc04,abc12,abc20,abc32,abc40abc04, abc12, abc20, abc32, abc40. Since the required integer is divisible by 3, so are their digit sums, implying that the only possible integer is abc20abc20, and so a,b,c{0,1}a, b, c \in \{0, 1\}, a0a \neq 0 and a+b+c=1a+b+c=1. The only possible integer is 10020. But, this integer is not divisible by 71. Hence, the sought after integer is 21300+1=2130121300+1=21301.

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