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Number theory Difficulty 8.9 Shortlist Prove it IMO

A social club has nn members. They have the membership numbers 1,2,,n1, 2, \ldots, n, respectively. From time to time members send presents to other members, including items they have already received as presents from other members. In order to avoid the embarrassing situation that a member might receive a present that he or she has sent to other members, the club adds the following rule to its statutes at one of its annual general meetings:

"A member with membership number aa is permitted to send a present to a member with membership number bb if and only if a(b1)a(b-1) is a multiple of nn."

Prove that, if each member follows this rule, none will receive a present from another member that he or she has already sent to other members.

Alternative formulation: Let GG be a directed graph with nn vertices v1,v2,,vnv_{1}, v_{2}, \ldots, v_{n}, such that there is an edge going from vav_{a} to vbv_{b} if and only if aa and bb are distinct and a(b1)a(b-1) is a multiple of nn. Prove that this graph does not contain a directed cycle.

Solution

Solution 1. Suppose there is an edge from viv_{i} to vjv_{j}. Then i(j1)=iji=kni(j-1) = ij - i = k n for some integer kk, which implies i=ijkni = ij - k n. If gcd(i,n)=d\operatorname{gcd}(i, n) = d and gcd(j,n)=e\operatorname{gcd}(j, n) = e, then ee divides ijkn=iij - k n = i and thus ee also divides dd. Hence, if there is an edge from viv_{i} to vjv_{j}, then gcd(j,n)gcd(i,n)\operatorname{gcd}(j, n) \mid \operatorname{gcd}(i, n).
If there is a cycle in GG, say vi1vi2virvi1v_{i_{1}} \rightarrow v_{i_{2}} \rightarrow \cdots \rightarrow v_{i_{r}} \rightarrow v_{i_{1}}, then we have
gcd(i1,n)gcd(ir,n)gcd(ir1,n)gcd(i2,n)gcd(i1,n) \operatorname{gcd}\left(i_{1}, n\right)\left|\operatorname{gcd}\left(i_{r}, n\right)\right| \operatorname{gcd}\left(i_{r-1}, n\right)|\ldots| \operatorname{gcd}\left(i_{2}, n\right) \mid \operatorname{gcd}\left(i_{1}, n\right)
which implies that all these greatest common divisors must be equal, say be equal to tt.
Now we pick any of the iki_{k}, without loss of generality let it be i1i_{1}. Then ir(i11)i_{r}(i_{1}-1) is a multiple of nn and hence also (by dividing by tt), i11i_{1}-1 is a multiple of nt\frac{n}{t}. Since i1i_{1} and i11i_{1}-1 are relatively prime, also tt and nt\frac{n}{t} are relatively prime. So, by the Chinese remainder theorem, the value of i1i_{1} is uniquely determined modulo n=tntn = t \cdot \frac{n}{t} by the value of tt. But, as i1i_{1} was chosen arbitrarily among the iki_{k}, this implies that all the iki_{k} have to be equal, a contradiction.

Solution 2. If a,b,ca, b, c are integers such that abaab - a and bcbbc - b are multiples of nn, then also aca=a(bcb)+(aba)(aba)cac - a = a(bc - b) + (ab - a) - (ab - a)c is a multiple of nn. This implies that if there is an edge from vav_{a} to vbv_{b} and an edge from vbv_{b} to vcv_{c}, then there also must be an edge from vav_{a} to vcv_{c}. Therefore, if there are any cycles at all, the smallest cycle must have length 2. But suppose the vertices vav_{a} and vbv_{b} form such a cycle, i.e., abaab - a and abbab - b are both multiples of nn. Then aba - b is also a multiple of nn, which can only happen if a=ba = b, which is impossible.

Solution 3. Suppose there was a cycle vi1vi2virvi1v_{i_{1}} \rightarrow v_{i_{2}} \rightarrow \cdots \rightarrow v_{i_{r}} \rightarrow v_{i_{1}}. Then i1(i21)i_{1}(i_{2}-1) is a multiple of nn, i.e., i1i1i2modni_{1} \equiv i_{1} i_{2} \bmod n. Continuing in this manner, we get i1i1i2i1i2i3i1i2i3irmodni_{1} \equiv i_{1} i_{2} \equiv i_{1} i_{2} i_{3} \equiv i_{1} i_{2} i_{3} \ldots i_{r} \bmod n. But the same holds for all iki_{k}, i.e., iki1i2i3irmodni_{k} \equiv i_{1} i_{2} i_{3} \ldots i_{r} \bmod n. Hence i1i2irmodni_{1} \equiv i_{2} \equiv \cdots \equiv i_{r} \bmod n, which means i1=i2==iri_{1} = i_{2} = \cdots = i_{r}, a contradiction.

Solution 4. Let n=kn = k be the smallest value of nn for which the corresponding graph has a cycle. We show that kk is a prime power.
If kk is not a prime power, it can be written as a product k=dek = d e of relatively prime integers greater than 1. Reducing all the numbers modulo dd yields a single vertex or a cycle in the corresponding graph on dd vertices, because if a(b1)0modka(b-1) \equiv 0 \bmod k then this equation also holds modulo dd. But since the graph on dd vertices has no cycles, by the minimality of kk, we must have that all the indices of the cycle are congruent modulo dd. The same holds modulo ee and hence also modulo k=dek = d e. But then all the indices are equal, which is a contradiction.
Thus kk must be a prime power k=pmk = p^{m}. There are no edges ending at vkv_{k}, so vkv_{k} is not contained in any cycle. All edges not starting at vkv_{k} end at a vertex belonging to a non-multiple of pp, and all edges starting at a non-multiple of pp must end at v1v_{1}. But there is no edge starting at v1v_{1}. Hence there is no cycle.

Solution 5. Suppose there was a cycle vi1vi2virvi1v_{i_{1}} \rightarrow v_{i_{2}} \rightarrow \cdots \rightarrow v_{i_{r}} \rightarrow v_{i_{1}}. Let q=pmq = p^{m} be a prime power dividing nn. We claim that either i1i2ir0modqi_{1} \equiv i_{2} \equiv \cdots \equiv i_{r} \equiv 0 \bmod q or i1i2ir1modqi_{1} \equiv i_{2} \equiv \cdots \equiv i_{r} \equiv 1 \bmod q.
Suppose that there is an isi_{s} not divisible by qq. Then, as is(is+11)i_{s}(i_{s+1}-1) is a multiple of qq, is+11modpi_{s+1} \equiv 1 \bmod p. Similarly, we conclude is+21modpi_{s+2} \equiv 1 \bmod p and so on. So none of the labels is divisible by pp, but since is(is+11)i_{s}(i_{s+1}-1) is a multiple of q=pmq = p^{m} for all ss, all is+1i_{s+1} are congruent to 1 modulo qq. This proves the claim.
Now, as all the labels are congruent modulo all the prime powers dividing nn, they must all be equal by the Chinese remainder theorem. This is a contradiction.

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