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Turkish Mathematical Olympiad

Number theory Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it Turkey

Find all positive integers nn for which every coefficient of the polynomial
Pn(x)=(x2+x+1)n−(x2+x)n−(x2+1)n−(x+1)n+x2n+xn+1 P_n(x) = (x^2 + x + 1)^n - (x^2 + x)^n - (x^2 + 1)^n - (x + 1)^n + x^{2n} + x^n + 1
is divisible by 77.

Solution

Using the fact that
Q(x)7m≡Q(x7m)(mod7) Q(x)^{7^m} \equiv Q(x^{7^m}) \pmod{7}
for all polynomials Q(x)Q(x) with integer coefficients and for all positive integers mm, we see that the integers n=7kn = 7^k and n=7k+7ln = 7^k + 7^l with 0≤k≤l0 \le k \le l satisfy the condition of the problem.

Now we will show that if nn is not of this form, then it does not satisfy the condition of the problem. Without loss of generality we may assume that nn is not divisible by 77.

As n>2n > 2, the coefficient of x3x^3 in Pn(x)P_n(x) is n(n−1)n(n-1). If 7∣n(n−1)7|n(n-1), then 7∣n−17|n-1. Let a≥1a \ge 1 and b≥2b \ge 2 be integers such that 7∤b7 \nmid b and n=1+7abn = 1 + 7^a b. Then we have

the following set of congruences modulo 77:
(x2+x+1)n≡(x2+x+1)(x2+x+1)7a≡(x2+x+1)(x2⋅7a+x7a+1)b≡1+x+x2+bx7a+bx7a+1+bx7a+2+(terms of order 2⋅7a or larger) (x^2 + x + 1)^n \equiv (x^2 + x + 1)(x^2 + x + 1)^{7^a} \equiv (x^2 + x + 1)(x^{2 \cdot 7^a} + x^{7^a} + 1)^b \\ \equiv 1 + x + x^2 + b x^{7^a} + b x^{7^a+1} + b x^{7^a+2} \\ \qquad + \text{(terms of order } 2 \cdot 7^a \text{ or larger)}
(x+1)n≡1+x+bx7a+bx7a+1+(terms of order 2⋅7a or larger) (x+1)^n \equiv 1 + x + b x^{7^a} + b x^{7^a+1} + \text{(terms of order } 2 \cdot 7^a \text{ or larger)}
(x2+1)n≡1+x2+(terms of order 2⋅7a or larger) (x^2 + 1)^n \equiv 1 + x^2 + \text{(terms of order } 2 \cdot 7^a \text{ or larger)}
(x2+x)n≡(sum of terms of order 2⋅7a or larger) (x^2 + x)^n \equiv \text{(sum of terms of order } 2 \cdot 7^a \text{ or larger)}
(In the last congruence we used the fact that b≥2b \ge 2.) Putting these together we get
Pn(x)≡bx7a+2+(terms of order 2⋅7a or larger)(mod7). P_n(x) \equiv b x^{7^a+2} + \text{(terms of order } 2 \cdot 7^a \text{ or larger)} \pmod{7}.
Since bb is not divisible by 77, the coefficient of x7a+2x^{7^a+2} in Pn(x)P_n(x) is not divisible by 77.

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