A positive integer is called nice if there exist positive integers such that
(1) is not divisible by for any pair ,
(2) for any index there exists an index such that is divisible by .
Find the largest good number which is even and less than .
Solution
Answer: .
Set and denote by the set of all residues modulo . For any natural number , denote by the map defined by (mod ) (mod ).
Assume that is nice and are integers satisfying the two conditions. Then by the condition (2), where denotes the set
Therefore, by the condition 1 and so . Since and we have , whence the map is invertible. Thus, by setting , we get and . More precisely, if then or . Thus for some satisfying and so .
Now assume that . By setting , we choose if and if . Then the elements of satisfy the two given conditions.
Thus, it suffices to find the largest even integer such that and . It is now straightforward to check that is nice while , , , are not.
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