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Number theory Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it Brazil

Let p(n)p(n) be the largest prime which divides nn. Show that there are infinitely many positive integers nn such that p(n)<p(n+1)<p(n+2)p(n) < p(n + 1) < p(n + 2).

Solution

Let qq be an odd prime and take n+1=q2kn + 1 = q^{2^k}. Then p(q2k)=qp(q^{2^k}) = q. Since gcd(q2k+1,q2l+1)=2\gcd(q^{2^k} + 1, q^{2^l} + 1) = 2 for klk \neq l (indeed, if dd is such gcd\gcd and k<lk < l,

q2k1(modd)    q2l1(modd)    d2q^{2k} \equiv -1 \pmod d \implies q^{2l} \equiv 1 \pmod d \iff d \mid 2

p(q2k+1)p(q^{2k} + 1) can be arbitrarily large. So let kk be the least integer value such that p(q2k+1)>qp(q^{2k} + 1) > q. Hence all prime divisors of q2t+1q^{2t} + 1, t<kt < k, are smaller than qq. Since q2k1=(q1)(q+1)(q2+1)(q2k1+1)q^{2k} - 1 = (q-1)(q+1)(q^2+1)\cdots(q^{2k-1}+1) and q1<qq-1 < q, all prime divisors of q2k1q^{2k} - 1 are smaller than qq, so p(q2k1)<qp(q^{2k} - 1) < q. So p(q2k1)<p(q2k)<p(q2k+1)p(q^{2k} - 1) < p(q^{2k}) < p(q^{2k} + 1) and, since there are infinite prime numbers, the result follows.

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