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Algebra Difficulty 8.6 Shortlist Prove it IMO

Let f:{1,2,3,}{2,3,}f:\{1,2,3, \ldots\} \rightarrow\{2,3, \ldots\} be a function such that f(m+n)f(m)+f(n)f(m+n) \mid f(m)+f(n) for all pairs m,nm, n of positive integers. Prove that there exists a positive integer c>1c>1 which divides all values of ff.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

For every positive integer mm, define Sm={n:mf(n)}S_{m}=\{n: m \mid f(n)\}.

Lemma. If the set SmS_{m} is infinite, then Sm={d,2d,3d,}=dZ>0S_{m}=\{d, 2 d, 3 d, \ldots\}=d \cdot \mathbb{Z}_{>0} for some positive integer dd.

Proof. Let d=minSmd=\min S_{m}; the definition of SmS_{m} yields mf(d)m \mid f(d).
Whenever nSmn \in S_{m} and n>dn>d, we have mf(n)f(nd)+f(d)m|f(n)| f(n-d)+f(d), so mf(nd)m \mid f(n-d) and therefore ndSmn-d \in S_{m}. Let rdr \leqslant d be the least positive integer with nr(modd)n \equiv r(\bmod d); repeating the same step, we can see that nd,n2d,,rSmn-d, n-2 d, \ldots, r \in S_{m}. By the minimality of dd, this shows r=dr=d and therefore dnd \mid n.
Starting from an arbitrarily large element of SmS_{m}, the process above reaches all multiples of dd; so they all are elements of SmS_{m}.

The solution for the problem will be split into two cases.

Case 1: The function ff is bounded.

Call a prime pp frequent if the set SpS_{p} is infinite, i.e., if pp divides f(n)f(n) for infinitely many positive integers nn; otherwise call pp sporadic. Since the function ff is bounded, there are only a finite number of primes that divide at least one f(n)f(n); so altogether there are finitely many numbers nn such that f(n)f(n) has a sporadic prime divisor. Let NN be a positive integer, greater than all those numbers nn.
Let p1,,pkp_{1}, \ldots, p_{k} be the frequent primes. By the lemma we have Spi=diZ>0S_{p_{i}}=d_{i} \cdot \mathbb{Z}_{>0} for some did_{i}. Consider the number
n=Nd1d2dk+1 n=N d_{1} d_{2} \cdots d_{k}+1
Due to n>Nn>N, all prime divisors of f(n)f(n) are frequent primes. Let pip_{i} be any frequent prime divisor of f(n)f(n). Then nSpin \in S_{p_{i}}, and therefore dind_{i} \mid n. But n1(moddi)n \equiv 1\left(\bmod d_{i}\right), which means di=1d_{i}=1. Hence Spi=1Z>0=Z>0S_{p_{i}}=1 \cdot \mathbb{Z}_{>0}=\mathbb{Z}_{>0} and therefore pip_{i} is a common divisor of all values f(n)f(n).

Case 2: ff is unbounded.

We prove that f(1)f(1) divides all f(n)f(n).
Let a=f(1)a=f(1). Since 1Sa1 \in S_{a}, by the lemma it suffices to prove that SaS_{a} is an infinite set.
Call a positive integer pp a peak if f(p)>max(f(1),,f(p1))f(p)>\max (f(1), \ldots, f(p-1)). Since ff is not bounded, there are infinitely many peaks. Let 1=p1<p2<1=p_{1}<p_{2}<\ldots be the sequence of all peaks, and let hk=f(pk)h_{k}=f\left(p_{k}\right). Notice that for any peak pip_{i} and for any k<pik<p_{i}, we have f(pi)f(k)+f(pik)<2f(pi)f\left(p_{i}\right) \mid f(k)+f\left(p_{i}-k\right)< 2 f\left(p_{i}\right), hence
f(k)+f(pik)=f(pi)=hi \begin{equation*} f(k)+f\left(p_{i}-k\right)=f\left(p_{i}\right)=h_{i} \tag{1} \end{equation*}
By the pigeonhole principle, among the numbers h1,h2,h_{1}, h_{2}, \ldots there are infinitely many that are congruent modulo aa. Let k0<k1<k2<k_{0}<k_{1}<k_{2}<\ldots be an infinite sequence of positive integers such that hk0hk1(moda)h_{k_{0}} \equiv h_{k_{1}} \equiv \ldots(\bmod a). Notice that
f(pkipk0)=f(pki)f(pk0)=hkihk00(moda), f\left(p_{k_{i}}-p_{k_{0}}\right)=f\left(p_{k_{i}}\right)-f\left(p_{k_{0}}\right)=h_{k_{i}}-h_{k_{0}} \equiv 0 \quad(\bmod a),
so pkipk0Sap_{k_{i}}-p_{k_{0}} \in S_{a} for all i=1,2,i=1,2, \ldots. This provides infinitely many elements in SaS_{a}.
Hence, SaS_{a} is an infinite set, and therefore f(1)=af(1)=a divides f(n)f(n) for every nn.

Solution 2

Let dn=gcd(f(n),f(1))d_{n}=\operatorname{gcd}(f(n), f(1)). From dn+1f(1)d_{n+1} \mid f(1) and dn+1f(n+1)f(n)+f(1)d_{n+1}|f(n+1)| f(n)+f(1), we can see that dn+1f(n)d_{n+1} \mid f(n); then dn+1gcd(f(n),f(1))=dnd_{n+1} \mid \operatorname{gcd}(f(n), f(1))=d_{n}. So the sequence d1,d2,d_{1}, d_{2}, \ldots is nonincreasing in the sense that every element is a divisor of the previous elements. Let d=min(d1,d2,)=gcd(d1.d2,)=gcd(f(1),f(2),);d=\min \left(d_{1}, d_{2}, \ldots\right)=\operatorname{gcd}\left(d_{1} . d_{2}, \ldots\right)=\operatorname{gcd}(f(1), f(2), \ldots) ; we have to prove d2d \geqslant 2.
For the sake of contradiction, suppose that the statement is wrong, so d=1d=1; that means there is some index n0n_{0} such that dn=1d_{n}=1 for every nn0n \geqslant n_{0}, i.e., f(n)f(n) is coprime with f(1)f(1).

Claim 1. If 2kn02^{k} \geqslant n_{0} then f(2k)2kf\left(2^{k}\right) \leqslant 2^{k}.

Proof. By the condition, f(2n)2f(n)f(2 n) \mid 2 f(n); a trivial induction yields f(2k)2kf(1)f\left(2^{k}\right) \mid 2^{k} f(1). If 2kn02^{k} \geqslant n_{0} then f(2k)f\left(2^{k}\right) is coprime with f(1)f(1), so f(2k)f\left(2^{k}\right) is a divisor of 2k2^{k}.

Claim 2. There is a constant CC such that f(n)<n+Cf(n)<n+C for every nn.

Proof. Take the first power of 2 which is greater than or equal to n0n_{0} : let K=2kn0K=2^{k} \geqslant n_{0}. By Claim 1, we have f(K)Kf(K) \leqslant K. Notice that f(n+K)f(n)+f(K)f(n+K) \mid f(n)+f(K) implies f(n+K)f(n)+f(K)f(n)+Kf(n+K) \leqslant f(n)+f(K) \leqslant f(n)+K. If n=tK+rn=t K+r for some t0t \geqslant 0 and 1rK1 \leqslant r \leqslant K, then we conclude
f(n)K+f(nK)2K+f(n2K)tK+f(r)<n+max(f(1),f(2),,f(K))f(n) \leqslant K+f(n-K) \leqslant 2 K+f(n-2 K) \leqslant \ldots \leqslant t K+f(r)<n+\max (f(1), f(2), \ldots, f(K)), so the claim is true with C=max(f(1),,f(K))C=\max (f(1), \ldots, f(K)).

Claim 3. If a,bZ>0a, b \in \mathbb{Z}_{>0} are coprime then gcd(f(a),f(b))f(1)\operatorname{gcd}(f(a), f(b)) \mid f(1). In particular, if a,bn0a, b \geqslant n_{0} are coprime then f(a)f(a) and f(b)f(b) are coprime.

Proof. Let d=gcd(f(a),f(b))d=\operatorname{gcd}(f(a), f(b)). We can replicate Euclid's algorithm. Formally, apply induction on a+ba+b. If a=1a=1 or b=1b=1 then we already have df(1)d \mid f(1).
Without loss of generality, suppose 1<a<b1<a<b. Then df(a)d \mid f(a) and df(b)f(a)+f(ba)d|f(b)| f(a)+f(b-a), so df(ba)d \mid f(b-a). Therefore dd divides gcd(f(a),f(ba))\operatorname{gcd}(f(a), f(b-a)) which is a divisor of f(1)f(1) by the induction hypothesis.

Let p1<p2<p_{1}<p_{2}<\ldots be the sequence of all prime numbers; for every kk, let qkq_{k} be the lowest power of pkp_{k} with qkn0q_{k} \geqslant n_{0}. (Notice that there are only finitely many positive integers with qkpkq_{k} \neq p_{k}.)
Take a positive integer NN, and consider the numbers
f(1),f(q1),f(q2),,f(qN) f(1), f\left(q_{1}\right), f\left(q_{2}\right), \ldots, f\left(q_{N}\right)
Here we have N+1N+1 numbers, each being greater than 1 , and they are pairwise coprime by Claim 3. Therefore, they have at least N+1N+1 different prime divisors in total, and their greatest prime divisor is at least pN+1p_{N+1}. Hence, max(f(1),f(q1),,f(qN))pN+1\max \left(f(1), f\left(q_{1}\right), \ldots, f\left(q_{N}\right)\right) \geqslant p_{N+1}.
Choose NN such that max(q1,,qN)=pN\max \left(q_{1}, \ldots, q_{N}\right)=p_{N} (this is achieved if NN is sufficiently large), and pN+1pN>Cp_{N+1}-p_{N}>C (that is possible, because there are arbitrarily long gaps between the primes). Then we establish a contradiction
pN+1max(f(1),f(q1),,f(qN))<max(1+C,q1+C,,qN+C)=pN+C<pN+1 p_{N+1} \leqslant \max \left(f(1), f\left(q_{1}\right), \ldots, f\left(q_{N}\right)\right)<\max \left(1+C, q_{1}+C, \ldots, q_{N}+C\right)=p_{N}+C<p_{N+1}
which proves the statement.

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