Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /10 of 15

, 2022

Number theory Difficulty 7.0 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it China

Find all positive integers nn with the following property: there exist nonempty finite sets of integers A,BA, B, such that for every integer mm, exactly one of the following three statements is true,
(i) there exists aAa \in A, such that ma(modn)m \equiv a \pmod{n};
(ii) there exists bBb \in B, such that mb(modn)m \equiv b \pmod{n};
(iii) there exist aAa \in A and bBb \in B, such that ma+b(modn)m \equiv a+b \pmod{n}.

Solution

Proof. Let A+B={a+baA,bB}A+B = \{a+b \mid a \in A, b \in B\}. The problem can be understood as the remainders of AA modulo nn, the remainders of BB modulo nn, and the remainders of (A+B)(A+B) modulo nn form a partition of all remainders modulo nn.

(1) If n>1n > 1 is an odd number, let n=2k+1n = 2k+1, kZ>0k \in \mathbb{Z}_{>0}. Take A={k}A = \{k\}, B={k+1,k+2,,2k}B = \{k+1, k+2, \dots, 2k\}, then A+B={2k+1,2k+2,,3k}A+B = \{2k+1, 2k+2, \dots, 3k\}, so A,B,A+BA, B, A+B are pairwise disjoint, and their union is exactly the consecutive 2k+12k+1 numbers, forming a complete system modulo 2k+12k+1, satisfying the condition.

(2) If n>1n > 1 satisfies the condition, then for any integer d>1d > 1, dndn also satisfies the condition. In fact, let the sets corresponding to nn be A,BA, B. Set
A={a+xnaA,x=0,1,,d1},B={b+xnbB,x=0,1,,d1} A' = \{a+xn \mid a \in A, x = 0, 1, \dots, d-1\}, \quad B' = \{b+xn \mid b \in B, x = 0, 1, \dots, d-1\}
We verify that A,BA', B' satisfy the problem requirements for dndn.
Since the remainders of A,B,A+BA', B', A' + B' modulo nn are exactly the remainders of A,B,A+BA, B, A+B modulo nn, the remainders of A,B,A+BA', B', A' + B' modulo nn and modulo dndn have no intersection, so no more than one statements of (i), (ii), and (iii) can hold. Considering any integer mm, if there exists aAa \in A such that ma(modn)m \equiv a \pmod{n}, then mm is congruent modulo dndn with one of a+xna+xn (x=0,1,,d1x = 0, 1, \dots, d-1), (i) holds. Similarly, if there exists bBb \in B such that mb(modn)m \equiv b \pmod{n}, then (ii) holds. If there exist aA,bBa \in A, b \in B, such that ma+b(modn)m \equiv a+b \pmod{n}, then mm is congruent modulo dndn with one of a+(b+xn)a+(b+xn) (x=0,1,,d1x = 0, 1, \dots, d-1), (iii) holds. Therefore, exactly one of (i), (ii), and (iii) holds. A,BA', B' satisfy the problem requirements for dndn.
By (1) and (2), all integers n>1n > 1 except powers of 2 satisfy the problem conditions.

(3) When n=8n = 8, it is easy to verify that A={1,2}A = \{1, 2\}, B={3,6}B = \{3, 6\}, A+B={4,5,7,8}A+B = \{4, 5, 7, 8\}, satisfying the requirements. Combining with (2), we know that all 2k2^k (k3k \ge 3) satisfy the requirements.

Since A,B,A+BA, B, A+B are all non-empty sets, there are at least three different remainders modulo nn, n3n \ge 3, so n=1,2n = 1, 2 do not satisfy the conditions.
When n=4n = 4, if A,BA, B have only one remainder modulo 4, then A+BA+B also has only one remainder modulo 4, which does not satisfy the requirement. If either AA or BB has at least two different remainders modulo 4, assume a1,a2Aa_1, a_2 \in A have different remainders modulo 4, and take any bBb \in B, then a1+ba_1+b and a2+ba_2+b also have different remainders modulo 4, so A+BA+B has at least two remainders modulo 4, which also does not satisfy the requirement. Therefore, n=4n = 4 does not satisfy the condition either.

In conclusion, the desired nn are all positive integers except 1, 2, and 4. \Box

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.