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NMO Selection Tests for BMO and IMO

Number theory Difficulty 7.7 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romania

Given two positive integers mm and nn, show that there exist a positive integer kk and a set SS of at least mm multiples of nn such that the numbers 2kσ(s)/s2^k \sigma(s)/s, s∈Ss \in S, are all odd; σ(s)\sigma(s) is the sum of all positive divisors of ss (1 and ss inclusive).

Solution

Let n=2an′n = 2^a n', where aa is a non-negative integer and n′n' is odd, and let 2b2^b be the highest power of 22 dividing σ(n′)\sigma(n'). Let p1,…,pℓp_1, \dots, p_\ell be odd primes not dividing n′n' (e.g., let each pi>n′p_i > n'), and let NN be an integer such that r=Nφ(p12⋯pℓ2n′)−1>max⁡(a,b)r = N\varphi(p_1^2 \cdots p_\ell^2 n') - 1 > \max(a, b), where φ\varphi is Euler's totient function. If tt is one of the 2ℓ2^\ell divisors of the product p1⋯pℓp_1 \cdots p_\ell, and s=2rn′t2s = 2^r n' t^2, then ss is a multiple of nn, since r>ar > a, and
σ(s)=σ(2r)σ(n′)σ(t2)=(2r+1−1)⋅2b⋅odd, \sigma(s) = \sigma(2^r)\sigma(n')\sigma(t^2) = (2^{r+1}-1) \cdot 2^b \cdot \text{odd},
since σ(t2)\sigma(t^2) is odd. Hence,
2r−bσ(s)s=2r+1−1n′t2⋅odd 2^{r-b} \frac{\sigma(s)}{s} = \frac{2^{r+1}-1}{n' t^2} \cdot \text{odd}
is an odd integer, by Euler's theorem. Finally, since there are 2ℓ2^\ell such ss, one for each divisor tt of the product p1⋯pℓp_1 \cdots p_\ell, it is sufficient to consider an integer ℓ≥log⁡2m\ell \ge \log_2 m to produce a set SS of at least mm multiples of nn satisfying the required condition; plainly, k=r−bk = r - b does not depend on ss.

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