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Number theory Difficulty 6.0 National olympiad Prove it Greece

Prove that the number A=4n!n! 2n!A = \frac{4n!}{n!\ 2n!}, where nn is a positive integer, is an integer and has a factor of the form 2n+12^{n+1}. (Note: The number n!n! for nNn \in \mathbb{N}, is defined by: n!=12nn! = 1 \cdot 2 \cdot \dots \cdot n, and 0!=10! = 1.)

Solution

We can write: A=4n!n! 2n!=(3nn)3n+1 3n+2  4n14nZA = \frac{4n!}{n!\ 2n!} = \binom{3n}{n} \cdot 3n+1\ 3n+2\ \dots\ 4n-1 \cdot 4n \in \mathbb{Z}, since (3nn)Z\binom{3n}{n} \in \mathbb{Z}.

Next we observe that in the prime factorization of n!n! the exponent of 22 is
expn=n2+n22++n2m,(2) \exp n = \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^2} \right\rfloor + \dots + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^m} \right\rfloor, \qquad (2)
where mm is the maximal natural number satisfying the inequality 2mn2^m \le n. Hence
expnn2+n22++n2m=n2(1+12++12m1)=nn2m.(3) \exp n \le \frac{n}{2} + \frac{n}{2^2} + \dots + \frac{n}{2^m} = \frac{n}{2} \left( 1 + \frac{1}{2} + \dots + \frac{1}{2^{m-1}} \right) = n - \frac{n}{2^m}. \qquad (3)
Similarly we find that:
exp2n=2n2+2n4++2n2m+1=n+n2+n22++n2m=n+expn(4) \exp 2n = \left\lfloor \frac{2n}{2} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{2n}{4} \right\rfloor + \dots + \left\lfloor \frac{2n}{2^{m+1}} \right\rfloor = n + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^2} \right\rfloor + \dots + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^m} \right\rfloor = n + \exp n \qquad (4)
exp4n=4n2+4n22+4n23++4n2m+2=2n+n+n2+n22++n2m=3n+expn \begin{aligned} \exp 4n &= \left\lfloor \frac{4n}{2} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{4n}{2^2} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{4n}{2^3} \right\rfloor + \dots + \left\lfloor \frac{4n}{2^{m+2}} \right\rfloor \\ &= 2n + n + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^2} \right\rfloor + \dots + \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^m} \right\rfloor = 3n + \exp n \end{aligned}
Therefore the exponent of 22 in the factorization of AA is
3n+expn[expn+n+expn]=2nexpn2n(nn2m)=n+n2mn+1, \begin{aligned} & 3n + \exp n - \left[ \exp n + n + \exp n \right] = 2n - \exp n \\ & \geq 2n - \left( n - \frac{n}{2^m} \right) = n + \frac{n}{2^m} \geq n + 1, \end{aligned}
that is 2n+12^{n+1} is a factor of AA.

(Second solution)

We can write A=(2n+1)(2n+2)(4n1)(4n)n!A = \frac{(2n+1)(2n+2)\dots(4n-1)(4n)}{n!}.
We observe that in the numerator we have n1n-1 even integers, from 2n+22n+2 till 4n24n-2, that is we get 22 as a factor n1n-1 times. Moreover from 4n4n, we get the factor 22 two times and hence
A=2n+1n(n+1)(n+2)(2n1)n!(2n+1)(2n+3)(4n1) A = 2^{n+1} \frac{n(n+1)(n+2)\dots(2n-1)}{n!} \cdot (2n+1)(2n+3)\dots(4n-1)
Since n(n+1)(n+2)(2n1)n!=(2n1n1)\frac{n(n+1)(n+2)\dots(2n-1)}{n!} = \binom{2n-1}{n-1}, we can write
A=2n+1(2n1n1)(2n+1)(2n+3)(4n1), A = 2^{n+1} \binom{2n-1}{n-1} \cdot (2n+1)(2n+3)\dots(4n-1),
and hence AA is integer divided by 2n+12^{n+1}.

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