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Number theory Difficulty 7.3 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it South Korea

A prime pp is called *nice prime* if there exists sequences of positive integers (n1,n2,,nk)(n_1, n_2, \dots, n_k) satisfying the following conditions for infinitely many positive integers kk, but there does not exist such for k=1k = 1.
1. For i=1,2,,ki = 1, 2, \dots, k, nii+12n_i \ge \frac{i+1}{2}.
2. For i=1,2,,ki = 1, 2, \dots, k, pni1p^{n_i} - 1 is a multiple of ni+1n_{i+1} and pni1ni+1\frac{p^{n_i} - 1}{n_{i+1}}, ni+1n_{i+1} are prime to each other. Set nk+1=n1n_{k+1} = n_1.
Show that 22 is not a nice prime, but any odd primes are nice primes.

Solution

Let us denote by aba|b when a positive integer aa divides bb. We write pcnp^c \nmid n when a positive integer nn is a multiple of pcp^c, but not of pc+1p^{c+1} for a prime pp.

Lemma 1. For a given prime qq and a positive integer aa such that (a,q)=1(a, q) = 1, let ss be the smallest positive integer xx satisfying qas1q|a^s - 1. Any positive integer yy such that qay1q|a^y - 1 must be a multiple of ss.
*Proof.* Put y=qs+r0y = qs + r_0, where q,r0q, r_0 are integers and 0r0<s0 \le r_0 < s. Noting qay1=(as1)(ays+ay2s++ar0)+ar01q|a^y - 1 = (a^s - 1)(a^{y-s} + a^{y-2s} + \dots + a^{r_0}) + a^{r_0} - 1 leads us to qar01q|a^{r_0} - 1. By the minimality of ss, we get r0=0r_0 = 0. \square

1. The case of p=2p = 2
It is immediate to note that all nin_is are odd and greater than or equal to 33. Let q(3)q (\ge 3) be the smallest prime dividing one of n1,n2,,nkn_1, n_2, \dots, n_k. Without loss of generality, we assume qn2q|n_2. Let s2s \ge 2 be the smallest positive integer xx satisfying q2r1q|2^r - 1. Then by Fermat's little theorem and Lemma 1, we get sq1s|q - 1. Thus s<qs < q. We realize that ss has a smaller prime factor than qq, so it contradicts q2n11q|2^{n_1} - 1, which implies sn1s|n_1. We conclude that there does not exist (n1,n2,,nk)(n_1, n_2, \dots, n_k) fulfilling conditions, hence 22 is not a nice prime.

2. The case of prime p3p \ge 3
(1) In the case k=1k = 1: we prove that there does not exist a positive integer nn such that npn1n|p^n - 1 and (pn1n,n)=1\left(\frac{p^n-1}{n}, n\right) = 1.
First, under the condition npn1n|p^n - 1, we show the smallest prime factor q1q_1 of nn must divide p1p-1. Let n=q1e1qrern = q_1^{e_1} \cdots q_r^{e_r}, q1<<qrq_1 < \cdots < q_r. npn1n|p^n - 1 implies q1pn1q_1|p^n - 1. Let ss be the smallest positive integer xx such that q1px1q_1|p^x - 1. Then it is obvious that sq11s \le q_1 - 1 and sns|n. If s>1s > 1, ss is a product of primes smaller than q1q_1, it violates that nn cannot have smaller prime factors than q1q_1. We obtain s=1s = 1 so q1p1q_1|p - 1.
Now let n=q1e1n0n = q_1^{e_1} n_0. In the expression pn1=pq1e1n01=(pn01)j=0e11pq1jn01pq1j1n01p^n - 1 = p^{q_1^{e_1} n_0} - 1 = (p^{n_0} - 1) \prod_{j=0}^{e_1-1} \frac{p^{q_1^{j} n_0} - 1}{p^{q_1^{j-1} n_0} - 1}. We easily see the number of prime q1q_1 in pn1p^n - 1 is at least e1+1e_1 + 1. So we get q1(pn1n,n)q_1|\left(\frac{p^n-1}{n}, n\right) reducing to contradiction. In sum, for any given prime pp, there does not exist a positive integer nn satisfying all conditions when k=1k = 1.

(2) In the case k2k \ge 2: we are always able to find sequences of positive integers (n1,n2,,nk)(n_1, n_2, \dots, n_k) for infinitely many kk. This proves that any odd primes are nice. There are various ways of taking the sequences and the proposed way below is one of them.

Lemma 2. For a positive integer cc and a prime qq, qcp1q^c|p-1 implies qc+dpqd1q^{c+d}|p^{q^d} - 1. Moreover,
- When qq is odd or (q=2,c2)(q = 2, c \ge 2): the smallest positive integer xx such that qc+dpx1q^{c+d}|p^x - 1 is qdq^d and qc+dpqd1q^{c+d}||p^{q^d} - 1 holds.
- When (q=2,c=1)(q = 2, c = 1): Let cc' be the smallest positive integer such that 2cp212^{c'}||p^2 - 1. Then the smallest positive integer xx satisfying 2cdpx12^{c'-d}||p^x - 1 is 2d+12^{d+1} and 2c+dp2d+112^{c'+d}||p^{2d+1}-1 holds.

Proof. Let us show only the first case. When d=0d=0, it is true by definition. Let us assume the statement is true when d=d0d=d_0 and try to show when d=d0+1d=d_0+1. We need to find the smallest positive integer xx such that qc+d0+1px1q^{c+d_0+1}||p^x-1. Since qc+d0px1q^{c+d_0}||p^x-1 also holds, by the assumption, xx is a multiple of qd0q^{d_0} and we set x=qd0ux=q^{d_0}u. From the equation px1=pqd0u1=(pqd01)(p(u1)qd0+p(u2)qd0++1)p^x-1 = p^{q^{d_0}u}-1 = (p^{q^{d_0}}-1)(p^{(u-1)q^{d_0}}+p^{(u-2)q^{d_0}}+\cdots+1), pqd01p^{q^{d_0}}-1 is already a multiple of qc+d0q^{c+d_0}, so it is enough to have p(u1)qd0+p(u2)qd0++1p^{(u-1)q^{d_0}}+p^{(u-2)q^{d_0}}+\cdots+1 a multiple of qq. p(u1)qd0+p(u2)qd0++11++1u(modq)p^{(u-1)q^{d_0}}+p^{(u-2)q^{d_0}}+\cdots+1\equiv 1+\cdots+1\equiv u\pmod q implies quq\nmid u and conversely, we easily check px1p^x-1 is really a multiple of qc+d0+1q^{c+d_0+1} when qq divides uu. Thus x=qd0ux=q^{d_0}u is a multiple of qd0+1q^{d_0+1}.
On the other hand, pqd01pqd01=p(q1)qd0+p(q2)qd0++1\frac{p^{q^{d_0}}-1}{p^{q^{d_0}-1}} = p^{(q-1)q^{d_0}} + p^{(q-2)q^{d_0}} + \cdots + 1 is only a multiple of qq not of q2q^2, whose proof is presented below. In conclusion, we obtain qc+dpqd1q^{c+d}||p^{q^d}-1 by induction.
The reason for qp(q1)qd0+p(q2)qd0++1q||p^{(q-1)q^{d_0}} + p^{(q-2)q^{d_0}} + \cdots + 1: Let vv be a positive integer such that pqd0=1+qvp^{q^{d_0}} = 1+qv. Then, p(q1)qd0+p(q2)qd0++1=(1+qv)q1+(1+qv)q2++(1+qv)+11+(q1)qv+1+(q2)qv++(1+qv)+1=q+(q1)q22vq(modq2)p^{(q-1)q^{d_0}} + p^{(q-2)q^{d_0}} + \cdots + 1 = (1+qv)^{q-1} + (1+qv)^{q-2} + \cdots + (1+qv) + 1 \equiv 1 + (q-1)qv + 1 + (q-2)qv + \cdots + (1+qv) + 1 = q + \frac{(q-1)q^2}{2}v \equiv q \pmod{q^2}.
In the case (q=2,c=1)(q=2, c=1), we are not able to guarantee the term (q1)q22v\frac{(q-1)q^2}{2}v in the almost last equation is a multiple of q2q^2 so we separate the case. \square

Now we define S={qqS = \{q|q a prime dividing p1}p-1\} and let qSq \in S. Take n1=p1n_1 = p-1 and let cq,1c_{q,1} be an integer such that qcq,1p1q^{c_{q,1}}||p-1 for qSq \in S. Similarly, we define cq,2c_{q,2} as an integer satisfying qcq,2pn11=pn111q^{c_{q,2}}||p^{n_1}-1 = p^{n_1-1}-1. Inductively for qS,i1q \in S, i \ge 1, let cq,i+1c_{q,i+1} be an integer such that qcq,i+1pni1q^{c_{q,i+1}}||p^{n_i}-1 and ni+1:=qSqcq,i+1n_{i+1} := \prod_{q \in S} q^{c_{q,i+1}}.
We define cq,ic_{q,i} and nin_i in this way accordingly as ii gets increased one by one, then we notice that cq,ic_{q,i} also gets large as ii does so. Fix q0Sq_0 \in S and put c:=cq0,1c := c_{q_0,1}. (When q0=2,cq0,1=1q_0 = 2, c_{q_0,1} = 1, let c=c1c = c' - 1, where cc' is in Lemma 2.(ii).)
Since there exists an integer ii such that q0cq0,i>p1q_0^{c_{q_0,i}} > p-1, we call such ii i0i_0. Moreover, there exists a positive integer k0k_0 such that pk01(p1)q0k0p+12\frac{p^{k_0}-1}{(p-1)q_0^{k_0}} \ge \frac{p+1}{2}, which is justified by that the left hand side is a function divergent when k0k_0 goes to infinity. Now let kk be any integer greater than 1+max{i0,k0,3}1 + \max\{i_0, k_0, 3\}. Except the case q0=2,cq0,1=1q_0 = 2, c_{q_0,1} = 1, we can, in fact, define kk to be any integer greater than max{i0,k0,3}\max\{i_0, k_0, 3\}. We apply the above definition of cq,i+1c_{q,i+1} and ni+1n_{i+1} till i<k2i < k-2 and let nk1:=q0cq0,k1n_{k-1} := q_0^{c_{q_0,k-1}}. It is easy to observe nk1p1p12n_{k-1} \ge p-1 \ge \frac{p-1}{2}.
From our choices of sequences {ni}\{n_i\}, it is clear to verify the following for 1i<k11 \le i < k-1
1,n1=p1p+12,ni+1=p1p+12 -1, n_1 = p-1 \ge \frac{p+1}{2}, n_{i+1} = p-1 \ge \frac{p+1}{2}
2,ni+1pni1,(pni1ni1,ni+1)=1 -2, n_{i+1} | p^{n_i} - 1, \left( \frac{p^{n_i-1}}{n_{i-1}}, n_{i+1} \right) = 1
The first one comes from cq,i+1>cq,i1c_{q,i+1} > c_{q,i} \ge 1. From Lemma 2, we even know cq,i+1=cq,i+cq,ic_{q,i+1} = c_{q,i} + c_{q,i} holds when qq is odd or cq,i2c_{q,i} \ge 2.
Finally, let nk:=pnk1q0cq0,k1qSqcq,q=pnk1q0cq0,k1(p1)n_k := \frac{p^{n_k} - 1}{q_0^{c_{q_0,k-1}} \prod_{q \in S} q^{c_{q,q}}} = \frac{p^{n_k} - 1}{q_0^{c_{q_0,k-1}}(p-1)}, then (nk,q0)=1(n_k, q_0) = 1 follows from Lemma 2, hence it satisfies the second condition (nk,pnk1nk)=1(n_k, \frac{p^{n_k} - 1}{n_k}) = 1 for nkn_k.
We also obtain the first condition nkp+12n_k \ge \frac{p+1}{2} from pnk1(p1)q0cq0,k1p+12\frac{p^{n_k} - 1}{(p-1)q_0^{c_{q_0,k-1}}} \ge \frac{p+1}{2}. Noting (p1,pnk1p1)=(p1,nk)(p-1, \frac{p^{n_k}-1}{p-1}) = (p-1, n_k) for this nkn_k and (q,nk)=1(q, n_k) = 1 for qSq \in S, we establish (p1,nk)=1(p-1, n_k) = 1. \square

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