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Number theory Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Let DD be a non-empty set of positive integers, let dd be the greatest common divisor of DD, and let dZ={dn:nZ}d\mathbb{Z} = \{dn : n \in \mathbb{Z}\}. Prove that there exists a bijection f:ZdZf: \mathbb{Z} \to d\mathbb{Z} such that f(n)f(n1)|f(n) - f(n-1)| is a member of DD for all integers nn.
Amer. Math. Monthly

Solution

Reduce the problem to the case where DD is finite, by considering an element d0d_0 of DD, representing each residue class in D(modd0)D \pmod{d_0} by some member of DD, and collecting all these representatives to form a finite subset of DD whose greatest common divisor is again dd.

Assume henceforth DD finite and induct on the cardinality of DD. The base case D=1|D| = 1 being clear, let D>1|D| > 1, fix a member aa of DD, notice that D=D{a}D' = D \setminus \{a\} is non-empty since D>1|D| > 1, and let dd' be the greatest common divisor of DD'. Clearly, dd is the greatest common divisor of aa and dd', and k=d/dk = d'/d is integral. By the induction hypothesis, there exists a bijection f:ZdZf': \mathbb{Z} \to d'\mathbb{Z} such that f(n)f(n1)|f'(n) - f'(n-1)| is a member of DD' for all integers nn.

It is easily seen that every multiple of dd can uniquely be written in the form
ar+ds,() ar + d's, \qquad (*)
where rr and ss are both integral and 0r<k0 \le r < k.

Assign every integer nn an integer f(n)f(n) in dZd\mathbb{Z} by writing n=kq+rn = kq + r, where qq and rr are both integral and 0r<k0 \le r < k, and letting
f(n)={f(q)+ar,if q is even,f(q)+a(kr1),if q is odd. f(n) = \begin{cases} f'(q) + ar, & \text{if } q \text{ is even,} \\ f'(q) + a(k - r - 1), & \text{if } q \text{ is odd.} \end{cases}
This defines a function f:ZdZf: \mathbb{Z} \to d\mathbb{Z}.

Since every member of dZd\mathbb{Z} can be written in the form ()(*), and ff' is surjective, so is ff.
Uniqueness in ()(*) and injectivity of ff' imply injectivity of ff, so ff is bijective.
Finally, the fact that f(n)f(n1)|f(n) - f(n-1)| is a member of DD for all integers nn follows from the corresponding condition for ff'. Verifications are routine and hence omitted.

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