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Number theory Difficulty 8.0 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romania

Given a positive odd integer nn, show that the arithmetic mean of the fractional parts {k2n/p}\{k^{2n}/p\}, k=1,,(p1)/2k = 1, \dots, (p-1)/2, is the same for infinitely many primes pp.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Notice that {k2n/p}=rk/p\{k^{2n}/p\} = r_k/p, where rkr_k is the remainder k2nk^{2n} leaves upon division by pp. Clearly, the rkr_k are quadratic residues modulo pp.
If pp is prime, and p1p-1 and nn are relatively prime, then the rkr_k, k=1,,(p1)/2k = 1, \dots, (p-1)/2, are pairwise distinct, since the k2nk^{2n}, k=1,,(p1)/2k = 1, \dots, (p-1)/2, are pairwise distinct modulo pp, by Fermat's little theorem. In this case, the rkr_k, k=1,,(p1)/2k = 1, \dots, (p-1)/2, form the set RR of all (p1)/2(p-1)/2 quadratic residues modulo pp in the range 11 through p1p-1.
If, in addition, pp is congruent to 1(mod4)1 \pmod 4, then 1-1 is a quadratic residue modulo pp, and the assignment rprr \mapsto p-r, rRr \in R, defines a permutation of RR. In this case, rRr=rR(pr)=p(p1)/2rRr\sum_{r \in R} r = \sum_{r \in R} (p-r) = p(p-1)/2 - \sum_{r \in R} r, so rRr=p(p1)/4\sum_{r \in R} r = p(p-1)/4, and the arithmetic mean in question is 1/21/2.
Finally, since nn is odd, infinitely many primes congruent to 1(mod4)1 \pmod 4 are also congruent to 2(modn)2 \pmod n, by Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic sequences of integers; for such a prime pp, the numbers p1p-1 and nn are clearly relatively prime. This completes the proof.

Solution 2

It is sufficient to show that k=1(p1)/2{k2n/p}=(p1)/4\sum_{k=1}^{(p-1)/2} \{k^{2n}/p\} = (p-1)/4 for every prime pp congruent to 1(mod4)1 \pmod 4.
Let pp be a prime congruent to 1(mod4)1 \pmod 4, let K={1,,(p1)/2}K = \{1, \dots, (p-1)/2\}, let rkr_k, kKk \in K, be the remainder k2k^2 leaves upon division by pp, and let
K={k:rk<p/2}andK+={k:rk>p/2}. K^{-} = \{k : r_{k} < p/2\} \quad \text{and} \quad K^{+} = \{k : r_{k} > p/2\}.
It is easily seen that the rkr_k are pairwise distinct, so they form the set of all quadratic residues modulo pp. Since pp is congruent to 1(modp)1 \pmod p, 1-1 is a quadratic residue modulo pp, so there is a bijection f:KK+f: K^{-} \to K^{+} such that rk+rf(k)=pr_k + r_{f(k)} = p for all kk in KK^{-}; in particular, K=K+=K/2=(p1)/4|K^{-}| = |K^{+}| = |K|/2 = (p-1)/4.
Since nn is odd, it follows that k2n+f(k)2n0(modp)k^{2n} + f(k)^{2n} \equiv 0 \pmod p for all kk in KK^{-}, so if rkr'_k is the remainder k2nk^{2n} leaves upon division by pp, then prkp - r'_k is the remainder f(k)2nf(k)^{2n} leaves upon division by pp. Consequently,
kK{k2n/p}=kK{k2n/p}+kK+{k2n/p}=kK({k2n/p}+{f(k)2n/p})=kK(rk/p+(1rk/p))=K=(p1)/4. \begin{aligned} \sum_{k \in K} \{k^{2n}/p\} &= \sum_{k \in K^{-}} \{k^{2n}/p\} + \sum_{k \in K^{+}} \{k^{2n}/p\} = \sum_{k \in K^{-}} (\{k^{2n}/p\} + \{f(k)^{2n}/p\}) \\ &= \sum_{k \in K^{-}} (r'_{k}/p + (1 - r'_{k}/p)) = |K^{-}| = (p-1)/4. \end{aligned}

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