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Number theory Difficulty 6.5 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

Let SS be a set of positive integers such that for every a,bSa, b \in S, there always exists cSc \in S such that c2c^2 divides a(a+b)a(a+b). Show that there exists an aSa \in S such that aa divides every element of SS.

Let SS be a nonempty subset of positive integers, such that for any a,bSa, b \in S, one can always find cSc \in S such that c2c^2 divides a(a+b)a(a+b). Prove that there exists aSa \in S, such that aa divides every element of SS.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Let aa be the minimum element in SS. We will show that this aa satisfies the condition. Towards contradiction, suppose bSb \in S be the minimum element in SS such that aba \nmid b. Define b0=bb_0 = b and let bi+1b_{i+1} be an element in SS so that bi+12a(a+bi)b_{i+1}^2 \mid a(a+b_i) for i0i \ge 0.
Note that if bi+1<bb_{i+1} < b, then by the minimality of bb we know that abi+1a \mid b_{i+1} and hence
a2bi+12a(a+bi) a^2 \mid b_{i+1}^2 \mid a(a + b_i)
and so abia \mid b_i and by induction we have ab0a \mid b_0 contradict to the assumption. Therefore, bibb_i \ge b for all ii. Moreover, we have the bi+1<b(b+bi)b_{i+1} < \sqrt{b(b+b_i)}. By induction we can see that bn<φbb_n < \varphi b, where φ=(1+5)/2\varphi = (1 + \sqrt{5})/2. As a consequence, we know that
b2bi+12a(a+bi)<(1+φ)b<3b2, b^2 \le b_{i+1}^2 \le a(a + b_i) < (1 + \varphi)b < 3b^2,
showing that bi+12=a(a+bi)b_{i+1}^2 = a(a + b_i) or bi+12=a(a+bi)/2b_{i+1}^2 = a(a + b_i)/2.
Now let pp be a prime so that vp(a)>vp(b)v_p(a) > v_p(b). If p2p \ne 2, then by induction we have that vp(bi)<vp(a)v_p(b_i) < v_p(a) for all ii and
vp(bi+1)=(vp(a)+vp(a+bi))/2=(vp(a)+vp(bi))/2, v_p(b_{i+1}) = (v_p(a) + v_p(a + b_i))/2 = (v_p(a) + v_p(b_i))/2,
therefore vp(a)vp(bi)v_p(a) - v_p(b_i) decreases strictly as ii increases, which is absurd. Hence p=2p = 2.
By the same argument, we know that v2(bi+1)=(v2(a)+vp(bi))/2v_2(b_{i+1}) = \lfloor (v_2(a) + v_p(b_i))/2 \rfloor. Then vp(a)vp(bi)v_p(a) - v_p(b_i) decreases strictly unless v2(bi)=v2(a)1v_2(b_i) = v_2(a) - 1. Therefore, there must be an NNN \in \mathbb{N} such that v2(bi)=v2(a)1v_2(b_i) = v_2(a) - 1 for all iNi \ge N. However, this shows that bi+12=a(a+bi)/2b_{i+1}^2 = a(a + b_i)/2 for all iNi \ge N, and so bi+1<bib_{i+1} < b_i for all iNi \ge N. This is a contradiction.

Solution 2

Let aa be the minimum element in SS. We will show that aa satisfies the condition. Towards contradiction, suppose bSb \in S is the minimum element in SS such that aba \nmid b. Let xSx \in S be an element such that x2a(a+b)x^2 \mid a(a+b). If x2a(a+b)x^2 \ne a(a+b), then x2a(a+b)/2<b2x^2 \le a(a+b)/2 < b^2, so x<bx < b, meaning axa \mid x and we must have aba \mid b similar to the argument in Sol1. So a(a+b)=x2a(a+b) = x^2 for some xSx \in S. Similarly b(a+b)=y2b(a+b) = y^2 for some ySy \in S. If gcd(a,b)=d\gcd(a,b) = d and a=dA,b=dBa = dA, b = dB, then d2A(A+B)=x2d^2A(A+B) = x^2, showing that A=s2A = s^2 for some positive integer ss, and similarly B=t2B = t^2. We also have A+B=l2A+B = l^2, showing that s2+t2=l2s^2+t^2=l^2, and x=dsl,y=dtlx = dsl, y = dtl.
Now note that x,y<b2<2bx, y < b\sqrt{2} < 2b. Therefore if pSp \in S satisfies that p2a(a+x)p^2 \mid a(a+x), then either a(a+x)=p2,2p2a(a+x) = p^2, 2p^2 or p<bp < b. The latter case leads to apa|p and so aba|b by the same argument above, which is a contradiction. Thus a(a+x)=p2,2p2a(a+x) = p^2, 2p^2.
Now if qSq \in S satisfies that q2b(b+y)q^2 \mid b(b+y), then again b(b+y)=q2,2q2b(b+y) = q^2, 2q^2 or q<bq < b.
The latter leads to aqa \mid q, and so
d2s4=a2b(b+y)=d2t3(t+l), d^2 s^4 = a^2 \mid b(b + y) = d^2 t^3 (t + l),
and by gcd(s,t)=1\gcd(s,t) = 1, we have s4t+ls^4 \mid t+l. However we have (t+l)(lt)=s2(t+l)(l-t) = s^2, showing that s=1s=1, which is impossible. Hence b(b+y)=q2,2q2b(b+y) = q^2, 2q^2
Now we will show the following lemma that immediately leads to a contradiction.
Lemma There do not exist positive integers a,b,x,ya, b, x, y, such that a(a+b)=x2,b(a+b)=y2a(a+b) = x^2, b(a+b) = y^2, and a(a+x),b(b+y)a(a+x), b(b+y) are perfect squares or the double of perfect squares.
Proof. We have already showed that a=ds2,b=dt2,x=dsl,y=dtla = ds^2, b = dt^2, x = dsl, y = dtl, where gcd(s,t)=1\gcd(s,t) = 1 and s2+t2=l2s^2 + t^2 = l^2. WLOG, assume ss is odd and tt is even, then there exist u,vu, v coprime such that s=u2v2,t=2uvs = u^2 - v^2, t = 2uv and l=u2+v2l = u^2 + v^2. Now note that
a(a+x)=d2s3(s+l)=2d2s2u2s, a(a + x) = d^2 s^3 (s + l) = 2d^2 s^2 u^2 \cdot s,
and this shows that ss must be a perfect square (because ss is odd), say s=m2s = m^2. Similarly we have
b(b+y)=d2t3(t+l)=2d2t2(u+v)2 b(b + y) = d^2 t^3 (t + l) = 2d^2 t^2 (u + v)^2
showing that t=n2t = n^2 or 2n22n^2 for some positive integer nn. Hence by s2+t2=l2s^2 + t^2 = l^2, we have m4+n4=l2m^4 + n^4 = l^2 or m4+4n4=l2m^4 + 4n^4 = l^2. It is well-known (can be proved by infinite descent) that those two Diophantine equations have no nontrivial solutions, which is a contradiction. \square

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.