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Number theory Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO)

Problem:

Determine all integers n2n \geq 2 for which there exist integers x1,x2,,xn1x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n-1} satisfying the condition that if 0<i<n0 < i < n, 0<j<n0 < j < n, iji \neq j and nn divides 2i+j2i + j, then xi<xjx_{i} < x_{j}.

Solution

Solution:

Suppose that nn has one of these forms. For an integer ii, let xix_{i} be the largest integer such that 2xi2^{x_{i}} divides ii. Now assume that 0<i<n0 < i < n, 0<j<n0 < j < n, iji \neq j, nn divides 2i+j2i + j and xixjx_{i} \geq x_{j}. Then the highest power of 22 dividing 2i+j2i + j is 2xj2^{x_{j}} and therefore kxjk \leq x_{j} and 2kj2^{k} \leq j. Since 0<j<n0 < j < n, this is possible only if n=32kn = 3 \cdot 2^{k} and either j=2kj = 2^{k} or j=2k+1j = 2^{k+1}. In the first case, iji \neq j and xixjx_{i} \geq x_{j} imply i=2k+1i = 2^{k+1} leading to the contradiction 32k=n2i+j=52k3 \cdot 2^{k} = n \mid 2i + j = 5 \cdot 2^{k}. The second case is not possible as iji \neq j and xixjx_{i} \geq x_{j} now imply i2k+2>ni \geq 2^{k+2} > n.

Now suppose that nn does not have one of these forms and x1,x2,,xn1x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n-1} satisfying the given condition exist. For any positive integer mm, let ama_{m} be the remainder of the division of (2)m(-2)^{m} by nn. Then none of ama_{m} is 00 as nn is not a power of 22. Also amam+1a_{m} \neq a_{m+1} for any m1m \geq 1 as am=am+1a_{m} = a_{m+1} would lead to nn dividing 32m3 \cdot 2^{m}. Moreover nn divides 2am+am+12a_{m} + a_{m+1}. Hence we must have xa1<xa2<xa3<x_{a_{1}} < x_{a_{2}} < x_{a_{3}} < \ldots which is not possible as ama_{m}'s can take on only finitely many values.

Let E={n/3,n/2,2n/3}{1,2,,n1}E = \{n / 3, n / 2, 2n / 3\} \cap \{1, 2, \ldots, n-1\}, D={1,2,,n1}ED = \{1, 2, \ldots, n-1\} \setminus E, and let f:D{1,2,,n1}f: D \rightarrow \{1, 2, \ldots, n-1\} be the function sending ii in DD to the unique f(i)f(i) in {1,2,,n1}\{1, 2, \ldots, n-1\} such that f(i)2i(modn)f(i) \equiv -2i \pmod{n}.
Then the condition of the problem is that xi<xf(i)x_{i} < x_{f(i)} for each ii in DD. Since DD is a finite set, the integers x1,x2,,xn1x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n-1} exist if and only if for each ii in DD there exists a positive integer k(i)k(i) such that fk(i)(i)f^{k(i)}(i) belongs to EE. This can be seen as follows:
- If fk(i)f^{k}(i) does not belong to EE for any k>0k > 0 for some ii, then there exists k2>k1>0k_{2} > k_{1} > 0 such that fk1(i)=fk2(i)f^{k_{1}}(i) = f^{k_{2}}(i), leading to the contradiction xfk1(i)<xfk2(i)=xfk1(i)x_{f^{k_{1}}(i)} < x_{f^{k_{2}}(i)} = x_{f^{k_{1}}(i)}.
- On the other hand, if such k(i)k(i) exists for each ii in DD, and if k0(i)k_{0}(i) denotes the smallest such, then the condition of the problem is satisfied by letting xi=k0(i)x_{i} = -k_{0}(i) for ii in DD, and xi=0x_{i} = 0 for ii in EE.
In other words, the integers x1,x2,,xn1x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n-1} exist if and only if for each ii in DD there exists a positive integer k(i)k(i) such that (2)k(i)in/3,n/2(-2)^{k(i)} i \equiv n / 3, n / 2 or 2n/3(modn)2n / 3 \pmod{n}. For i=1i = 1, this implies that n=2kn = 2^{k} with k1k \geq 1 or n=32kn = 3 \cdot 2^{k} with k0k \geq 0. On the other hand, if nn has one of these forms, letting k(i)=kk(i) = k does the trick for all ii in DD.

Suppose that x1,x2,,xk1x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{k-1} satisfy the condition of the problem for n=kn = k. Let y2i=xiy_{2i} = x_{i} for 1ik11 \leq i \leq k-1 and choose y2i1y_{2i-1} for 1ik1 \leq i \leq k to be less than min{x1,x2,,xk1}\min \{x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{k-1}\}. Now suppose that for n=2kn = 2k we have 0<i<n0 < i < n, 0<j<n0 < j < n, iji \neq j, nn divides 2i+j2i + j. Then jj is even. If ii is also even, then 0<i/2<k0 < i/2 < k, 0<j/2<k0 < j/2 < k and kk divides 2(i/2)+(j/2)2(i/2) + (j/2); hence yi=xi/2<xj/2=yjy_{i} = x_{i/2} < x_{j/2} = y_{j}. On the other hand, if ii is odd, then yi<min{x1,x2,,xk1}xj/2=yjy_{i} < \min \{x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{k-1}\} \leq x_{j/2} = y_{j}. Therefore, y1,y2,,y2k1y_{1}, y_{2}, \ldots, y_{2k-1} satisfy the condition of the problem for n=2kn = 2k.
Since the condition is vacuous for n=2n = 2 and n=3n = 3, it follows that x1,x2,,xn1x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n-1} satisfying the condition exist for all n=2kn = 2^{k} with k1k \geq 1 and n=32kn = 3 \cdot 2^{k} with k0k \geq 0.
Now suppose that x1,x2,,xn1x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n-1} satisfying the condition of the problem exist for n=2kmn = 2^{k} m where kk is a nonnegative integer and m>3m > 3 is an odd number. Let b0=2kb_{0} = 2^{k} and let bi+1b_{i+1} be the remainder of the division of (2)bi(-2) b_{i} by nn for i0i \geq 0. No terms of this sequence is 00 and no two consecutive terms are both equal to b1b_{1} as m>3m > 3. On the other hand, as (2)ϕ(m)1(modm)(-2)^{\phi(m)} \equiv 1 \pmod{m}, we have bϕ(m)(2)ϕ(m)2k2kb0(modn)b_{\phi(m)} \equiv (-2)^{\phi(m)} 2^{k} \equiv 2^{k} \equiv b_{0} \pmod{n}, and hence bϕ(m)=b0b_{\phi(m)} = b_{0}. Since 2bi+bi+12b_{i} + b_{i+1} is divisible by nn for all i0i \geq 0, we have xb0<xb1<<xbϕ(m)=xb0x_{b_{0}} < x_{b_{1}} < \cdots < x_{b_{\phi(m)}} = x_{b_{0}}, a contradiction.

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