Let be a prime number and . Prove that contains two elements and such that and divides .
BMO, 1996
Let be a prime number and . Prove that contains two elements and such that and divides .
BMO, 1996
We show that the smallest element of that is greater than divides a larger element of . If is of the form , with , we show that divides . Indeed, as is even, it follows that .
If cannot be written as , , cannot be written as either (this is a composite number because ), hence for some (). We show that , which is an element of that is larger than , divides another element of . The condition that divides one of the numbers with is equivalent to dividing one of the numbers . Being smaller than , divides one of the following consecutive numbers: , , , hence it divides one of the differences . Moreover, it does not divide , because it would divide .