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Mongolian IMO Team Selection Tests, 2015

Number theory Difficulty 7.9 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Mongolia

Let nn and aa be positive integers satisfying an≡1(modn)a^n \equiv 1 \pmod{n}. Show that there exists a positive integer ss such that as+s≡0(modn)a^s + s \equiv 0 \pmod{n}.

Solution

We prove by induction on nn. For n=1n=1, there is nothing to prove. Suppose n≥2n \ge 2 and let d:=gcd⁡(ϕ(n),n)d := \gcd(\phi(n), n).

Clearly aa and nn are relatively prime, thus we have ad≡1(modn)a^d \equiv 1 \pmod{n} by Euler's theorem. Since d≤ϕ(n)<nd \le \phi(n) < n and ad≡1(modd)a^d \equiv 1 \pmod{d}, there exists mm such that am+m≡0(modd)a^m + m \equiv 0 \pmod{d} by the induction hypothesis. Hence, there exists a positive integer r≤n/dr \le n/d such that am+m=dr(modn)a^m + m = dr \pmod{n}. If we choose s:=m+n−drs := m + n - dr then
as+s≡am+m−dr≡0(modn) a^s + s \equiv a^m + m - dr \equiv 0 \pmod{n}
and the proof is complete.

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