Number theoryDifficulty 7.9National Olympiad, round 2Prove itMongolia
Let n and a be positive integers satisfying an≡1(modn). Show that there exists a positive integer s such that as+s≡0(modn).
Solution
We prove by induction on n. For n=1, there is nothing to prove. Suppose n≥2 and let d:=gcd(ϕ(n),n).
Clearly a and n are relatively prime, thus we have ad≡1(modn) by Euler's theorem. Since d≤ϕ(n)<n and ad≡1(modd), there exists m such that am+m≡0(modd) by the induction hypothesis. Hence, there exists a positive integer r≤n/d such that am+m=dr(modn). If we choose s:=m+n−dr then as+s≡am+m−dr≡0(modn) and the proof is complete.
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