Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /840 of 1394

, 2015

Number theory Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Let z=a+biz = a + b i be a complex number with integer real and imaginary parts a,bZa, b \in \mathbb{Z}, where i=1i = \sqrt{-1} (i.e. zz is a Gaussian integer). If pp is an odd prime number, show that the real part of zpzz^{p} - z is an integer divisible by pp.

Solution

Solution:
We directly compute/expand
Re(zpz)=Re((a+bi)p(a+bi))=[ap(p2)ap2b2+(p4)ap4b4]a. \begin{aligned} \operatorname{Re}\left(z^{p}-z\right) & = \operatorname{Re}\left((a+b i)^{p}-(a+b i)\right) \\ & = \left[a^{p} - \binom{p}{2} a^{p-2} b^{2} + \binom{p}{4} a^{p-4} b^{4} - \cdots \right] - a . \end{aligned}
Since (pi)\binom{p}{i} is divisible by pp for all i=2,4,6,i=2,4,6, \ldots (since 1ip11 \leq i \leq p-1), we have
[ap(p2)ap2b2+(p4)ap4b4]aapa0(modp) \left[a^{p} - \binom{p}{2} a^{p-2} b^{2} + \binom{p}{4} a^{p-4} b^{4} - \cdots \right] - a \equiv a^{p} - a \equiv 0 \quad (\bmod p)
by Fermat's little theorem. Thus pp divides the real part of zpzz^{p}-z.

Solution 2:
From the Frobenius endomorphism,
zp=(a+bi)pap+(bi)p=ap±bpia±bi(modpZ) z^{p} = (a + b i)^{p} \equiv a^{p} + (b i)^{p} = a^{p} \pm b^{p} i \equiv a \pm b i \quad (\bmod p \cdot \mathbb{Z}*)
where we're using congruence of Gaussian integers (so that uv(modp)u \equiv v (\bmod p) if and only if uvp\frac{u-v}{p} is a Gaussian integer). This is equivalent to the simultaneous congruence of the real and imaginary parts modulo pp, so the real part of zpz^{p} is congruent to aa, the real part of zz. So indeed pp divides the real part of zpzz^{p}-z.

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