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Number theory Difficulty 6.6 National olympiad Prove it Ukraine

Given a fixed natural number n>1n > 1, 2019 natural numbers are placed around the circle in such a way that the product of any two neighboring numbers is a perfect nn-th power. Is it always the case that the product of any (not necessarily neighboring) two numbers is also a perfect nn-th power?

(A. Nikolaev, B. Rublyov)

Solution

For the odd n=2l+1n = 2l + 1 one can prove the statement as follows:
P2=(a1a2)(a2a3)(a3a4)(a2018a2019)(a2019a1)=m2l+1, P^2 = (a_1a_2)(a_2a_3)(a_3a_4)\dots(a_{2018}a_{2019})(a_{2019}a_1) = m^{2l+1},
where P=a1a2a2019P = a_1a_2\dots a_{2019}. From here it follows that P=a1a2a2019=s2l+1P = a_1a_2\dots a_{2019} = s^{2l+1}. Therefore,
a1=P(a2a3)(a4a5)(a2018a2019)=s2l+1u2l+1=v12l+1, a_1 = \frac{P}{(a_2a_3)(a_4a_5)\dots(a_{2018}a_{2019})} = \frac{s^{2l+1}}{u^{2l+1}} = v_1^{2l+1},
and the same holds for all ai=vi2l+1a_i = v_i^{2l+1}, i=2,,2019i = 2, \ldots, 2019. From here it directly follows that
aiaj=vi2l+1vj2l+1=v2l+1. a_i a_j = v_i^{2l+1} v_j^{2l+1} = v^{2l+1}.

For even n=2ln = 2l one can write
P2=(a1a2)(a2a3)(a3a4)(a2018a2019)(a2019a1)=m2l, where P=a1a2a2019. P^2 = (a_1a_2)(a_2a_3)(a_3a_4)\dots(a_{2018}a_{2019})(a_{2019}a_1) = m^{2l}, \text{ where } P = a_1a_2\dots a_{2019}.
From here it follows that P=mlP = m^l. Therefore,
a12=P2(a2a3)(a4a5)(a2018a2019)=m2lu2l=v12l, a_1^2 = \frac{P^2}{(a_2a_3)(a_4a_5)\dots(a_{2018}a_{2019})} = \frac{m^{2l}}{u^{2l}} = v_1^{2l},
and the same holds for all ai2=vi2la_i^2 = v_i^{2l}, i=2,,2019i = 2, \ldots, 2019. From here it directly follows that
r2l=(a1a2)(a2a3)(a3a4)(ak1ak)=a1a22a32ak1ak=a1akw2la1ak=r2lw2l=z2l. r^{2l} = (a_1a_2)(a_2a_3)(a_3a_4)\dots(a_{k-1}a_k) = a_1a_2^2a_3^2\dots a_{k-1}a_k = a_1a_k w^{2l} \Rightarrow a_1a_k = \frac{r^{2l}}{w^{2l}} = z^{2l}.

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