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Number theory Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Serbia

Problem:

Let nn be an odd natural number such that the numbers φ(n)\varphi(n) and φ(n+1)\varphi(n+1) are powers of two (φ(n)\varphi(n) is the number of natural numbers not greater than nn and relatively prime to nn). Prove that n+1n+1 is a power of two or n=5n=5.

Solution

Solution:

If n=i=1kpirkn=\prod_{i=1}^{k} p_{i}^{r_{k}} is the canonical factorization of nn, then φ(n)=i=1kpirk1(pi1)\varphi(n)=\prod_{i=1}^{k} p_{i}^{r_{k}-1}\left(p_{i}-1\right) holds, so since nn has no prime factors other than two, it must be that ai=1a_{i}=1 and pi1=2bip_{i}-1=2^{b_{i}} for every ii and some bib_{i}. Since 2bi+12^{b_{i}}+1 can be prime only if bib_{i} is a power of two, we have pi=22ci+1p_{i}=2^{2^{c_{i}}}+1 for some distinct cic_{i}.

Suppose that n+1n+1 is not a power of two. From the fact that φ(n+1)\varphi(n+1) is a power of two we obtain that all odd prime divisors of n+1n+1 are of the form 22di+12^{2^{d_{i}}}+1. Therefore,
n=i=1k(22ci+1),n+1=2tj=1l(22dj+1) n=\prod_{i=1}^{k}\left(2^{2^{c_{i}}}+1\right), \quad n+1=2^{t} \prod_{j=1}^{l}\left(2^{2^{d_{j}}}+1\right)
where all cic_{i} and djd_{j} are mutually distinct. We may assume without loss of generality that c1<<ckc_{1}<\cdots<c_{k} and d1<<dld_{1}<\cdots<d_{l}.

For every m,MN,mMm, M \in \mathbb{N}, m \leq M, by simple induction one shows that
22m+122m<i=mM22i+122i=22m22m122M+1122M+1<22m22m1 \frac{2^{2^{m}}+1}{2^{2^{m}}}<\prod_{i=m}^{M} \frac{2^{2^{i}}+1}{2^{2^{i}}}=\frac{2^{2^{m}}}{2^{2^{m}}-1} \cdot \frac{2^{2^{M+1}}-1}{2^{2^{M+1}}}<\frac{2^{2^{m}}}{2^{2^{m}}-1}
From this we obtain
22c1+122c12cn<22c122c112cand22d1+122d12dn+1<22d122d112d \frac{2^{2^{c_{1}}}+1}{2^{2^{c_{1}}}} 2^{c} \leqslant n<\frac{2^{2^{c_{1}}}}{2^{2^{c_{1}}}-1} 2^{c} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{2^{2^{d_{1}}}+1}{2^{2^{d_{1}}}} 2^{d} \leqslant n+1<\frac{2^{2^{d_{1}}}}{2^{2^{d_{1}}}-1} 2^{d}
where c=i2cic=\sum_{i} 2^{c_{i}} and d=t+j2did=t+\sum_{j} 2^{d_{i}}. It follows that c=dc=d. If d1>c1d_{1}>c_{1}, then 22d122d11<22c1+122c1\frac{2^{2^{d_{1}}}}{2^{2^{d_{1}}}-1}<\frac{2^{2^{c_{1}}}+1}{2^{2^{c_{1}}}} holds, so n+1<nn+1<n, a contradiction. Therefore, d1<c1d_{1}<c_{1}, and then n+122d1+122d12c>22c122c112c>nn+1 \geqslant \frac{2^{2^{d_{1}}}+1}{2^{2^{d_{1}}}} 2^{c}>\frac{2^{2^{c_{1}}}}{2^{2^{c_{1}}}-1} 2^{c}>n, so n+1n>22d1+122d122c1122c1\frac{n+1}{n}>\frac{2^{2^{d_{1}}}+1}{2^{2^{d_{1}}}} \cdot \frac{2^{2^{c_{1}}}-1}{2^{2^{c_{1}}}} and, because of n22c1+1a2+1n \geqslant 2^{2^{c_{1}}}+1 \geqslant a^{2}+1 for 22d1=a,n+1n>(a+1)(a21)a3=1+a2a1a32^{2^{d_{1}}}=a, \frac{n+1}{n}>\frac{(a+1)\left(a^{2}-1\right)}{a^{3}}=1+\frac{a^{2}-a-1}{a^{3}}, from which we conclude a2+1n<a3a2a1a^{2}+1 \leqslant n<\frac{a^{3}}{a^{2}-a-1}. The only possibility is a=2a=2 and n=5n=5.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from sr; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.