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Philippine Mathematical Olympiad

Number theory Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Philippines

Problem:
Let aa, pp, and qq be positive integers with p≤qp \leq q. Prove that if one of the numbers apa^{p} and aqa^{q} is divisible by pp, then the other number must also be divisible by pp.

Solution

Solution:
Suppose that p∣app \mid a^{p}. Since p≤qp \leq q, it follows that ap∣aqa^{p} \mid a^{q}, which implies that p∣aqp \mid a^{q}.

Now, suppose that p∣aqp \mid a^{q}, and, on the contrary, p∤app \nmid a^{p}. Then there is a prime number rr and a positive integer nn such that rn∣pr^{n} \mid p (which implies that rn≤pr^{n} \leq p) and rn∤apr^{n} \nmid a^{p}. Since p∣aqp \mid a^{q}, it follows that r∣ar \mid a, and so rn∣anr^{n} \mid a^{n}. This means that p<np < n, which gives the following contradiction:
2p≤rp<rn≤p 2^{p} \leq r^{p} < r^{n} \leq p
Therefore, apa^{p} must also be divisible by pp.

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