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Number theory Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it United States

Let SS be a set of integers (not necessarily positive) such that

a. there exist a,bSa, b \in S with gcd(a,b)=gcd(a2,b2)=1\gcd(a, b) = \gcd(a - 2, b - 2) = 1;

b. if xx and yy are elements of SS (possibly equal), then x2yx^2 - y also belongs to SS.

Prove that SS is the set of all integers.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

In the solution below we use the expression SS is stable under xf(x)x \mapsto f(x) to mean that if tt belongs to SS, then f(t)f(t) also belongs to SS. If c,dSc, d \in S, then by condition (b), SS is stable under xc2xx \mapsto c^2 - x and xd2xx \mapsto d^2 - x. Hence, it is stable under xc2(d2x)=x+(c2d2)x \mapsto c^2 - (d^2 - x) = x + (c^2 - d^2). Similarly, SS is stable under xx+(d2c2)x \mapsto x + (d^2 - c^2). Hence, SS is stable under xx+nx \mapsto x + n and xxnx \mapsto x - n, whenever nn is an integer linear combination of finitely many numbers in T={c2d2c,dS}T = \{c^2 - d^2 \mid c, d \in S\}.

By condition (a), SS \neq \emptyset and hence TT \neq \emptyset as well. For the sake of contradiction, assume that some pp divides every element in TT. Then c2d20(modp)c^2 - d^2 \equiv 0 \pmod{p} for all c,dSc, d \in S. In other words, for each c,dSc, d \in S, either dc(modp)d \equiv c \pmod{p} or dc(modp)d \equiv -c \pmod{p}. Given cSc \in S, c2cSc^2 - c \in S, by condition (b), so c2cc(modp)c^2 - c \equiv c \pmod{p} or c2cc(modp)c^2 - c \equiv -c \pmod{p}. Hence,
c0(modp) or c2(modp)() c \equiv 0 \pmod{p} \text{ or } c \equiv 2 \pmod{p} \quad (*)
for each cSc \in S. By condition (a), there exist some aa and bb in SS such that gcd(a,b)=1\gcd(a, b) = 1, that is, at least one of aa or bb cannot be divisible by pp. Denote such an element of SS by α\alpha; thus, α≢0(modp)\alpha \not\equiv 0 \pmod{p}. Similarly, by condition (a), gcd(a2,b2)=1\gcd(a - 2, b - 2) = 1, so pp cannot divide both a2a - 2 and b2b - 2. Thus, there is an element of SS, call it β\beta, such that β≢2(modp)\beta \not\equiv 2 \pmod{p}. By (*), α2(modp)\alpha \equiv 2 \pmod{p} and β0(modp)\beta \equiv 0 \pmod{p}. By condition (b), β2αS\beta^2 - \alpha \in S. Taking c=β2αc = \beta^2 - \alpha in (*) yields either 20(modp)-2 \equiv 0 \pmod{p} or 22(modp)-2 \equiv 2 \pmod{p}, so p=2p = 2. Now (*) says that all elements of SS are even, contradicting condition (a). Hence, our assumption is false and no prime divides every element in TT.

It follows that T{0}T \neq \{0\}. Let xx be an arbitrary nonzero element of TT. For each prime divisor of xx, there exists an element in TT which is not divisible by that prime. The set AA consisting of xx and each of these elements is finite. By construction, gcd{yyA}=1\text{gcd}\{y \mid y \in A\} = 1, and 11 can be written as an integer linear combination of finitely many elements in AA and hence in TT. Therefore, SS is stable under xx+1x \mapsto x+1 and xx1x \mapsto x-1. Because SS is nonempty, it follows that SS is the set of all integers.

Solution 2

Define TT, aa, and bb as in the first solution. We present another proof that no prime divides every element in TT. Suppose, for sake of contradiction, that such a prime pp does exist. By condition (b), a2a,b2bSa^2 - a, b^2 - b \in S. Therefore, pp divides a2b2a^2 - b^2, x1=(a2a)2a2x_1 = (a^2 - a)^2 - a^2, and x2=(b2b)2b2x_2 = (b^2 - b)^2 - b^2. Because gcd(a,b)=1\text{gcd}(a, b) = 1, both gcd(a2b2,a3)\text{gcd}(a^2 - b^2, a^3) and gcd(a2b2,b3)\text{gcd}(a^2 - b^2, b^3) equal 1, so pp does not divide a3a^3 or b3b^3. But pp does divide x1=a3(a2)x_1 = a^3(a - 2) and x2=b3(b2)x_2 = b^3(b - 2), so it must divide a2a - 2 and b2b - 2. Because gcd(a2,b2)=1\text{gcd}(a - 2, b - 2) = 1 by condition (a), this implies p1p \mid 1, a contradiction. Therefore our original assumption was false, and no such pp exists.

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