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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Prove it China

For each positive integer nn and each integer ii (0in0 \leq i \leq n), let Cnic(n,i)(mod2)C_n^i \equiv c(n,i) \pmod{2}, where c(n,i){0,1}c(n,i) \in \{0, 1\}, and define
f(n,q)=i=0nc(n,i)qi. f(n,q) = \sum_{i=0}^{n} c(n,i)q^i.
Let mm, nn and qq be positive integers with q+1q+1 not a power of 22. Suppose that f(m,q)f(n,q)f(m,q) \mid f(n,q). Prove that
f(m,r)f(n,r)f(m,r) \mid f(n,r) for every positive integer rr.

Solution

For each positive integer nn, we write nn in binary representation as n=2a1+2a2++2akn = 2^{a_1} + 2^{a_2} + \dots + 2^{a_k}, where 0a1<a2<<ak0 \le a_1 < a_2 < \dots < a_k. Define a set T(n)={2a1,,2ak}T(n) = \{2^{a_1}, \dots, 2^{a_k}\}, T(0)T(0) is considered empty set.
By Lucas' theorem, CniC_n^i is odd if and only if T(i)T(n)T(i) \le T(n), hence
f(n,q)=AT(n)qσ(A)=aT(n)(1+qa), f(n,q) = \sum_{A \subseteq T(n)} q^{\sigma(A)} = \prod_{a \in T(n)} (1+q^a),
where σ(A)\sigma(A) denotes the sum of all elements of AA.
For m,nm,n and qq as given by assumption, we show that if
f(m,q)=aT(m)(1+qa)aT(n)(1+qa)=f(n,q), f(m,q) = \prod_{a \in T(m)} (1+q^a) \mid \prod_{a \in T(n)} (1+q^a) = f(n,q),
then T(m)T(n)T(m) \subseteq T(n), and consequently, f(m,r)f(n,r)f(m,r) \mid f(n,r) for every rr.
For any integers i,ji, j, 0i<j0 \le i < j, we have the following factorization:
q2j1=(q2j1+1)(q2+1)(q21), q^{2j} - 1 = (q^{2j-1} + 1) \cdots (q^2 + 1)(q^2 - 1),
therefore
(q2j+1,q2i+1)=(q2i+1,2)2. (q^{2j} + 1, q^{2i} + 1) = (q^{2i} + 1, 2) \mid 2.
Let s(k)s(k) be the largest odd divisor of a positive integer kk, then it follows that s(q2i+1)s(q^{2i} + 1) and s(q2j+1)s(q^{2j} + 1) are coprime. Clearly q>1q > 1. If i>0i > 0, q2i+11(mod2)q^{2i} + 1 \equiv 1 \pmod{2}, and q2j+1>2q^{2j} + 1 > 2, thus s(q2i+1)>1s(q^{2i} + 1) > 1. If i=0i = 0, since q+1q + 1 is not a power of 22, we have s(q+1)>1s(q + 1) > 1. For any aT(m)a \in T(m), s(qa+1)bT(n)s(qb+1)s(q^a + 1) \mid \prod_{b \in T(n)} s(q^b + 1). Since s(1+qa)>1s(1 + q^a) > 1, we have aT(n)a \in T(n), hence T(m)T(n)T(m) \subseteq T(n), which completes the proof!

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