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Number theory Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Italy

In which bases b>6b>6 does the notation 5654 represent a power of a prime number?

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

The notation 5654 in base bb represents the number N=5b3+6b2+5b+4=(b+1)(5b2+b+4)N=5 b^{3}+6 b^{2}+5 b+4=(b+1)\left(5 b^{2}+b+4\right). If bb is odd, b+1b+1 is even; conversely, if bb is even, 5b2+b+45 b^{2}+b+4 is even. In either case, NN is even, and therefore it is a power of 2.

It follows that b+1b+1 and 5b2+b+45 b^{2}+b+4 are both powers of 22: b+1=2nb+1=2^{n} and 5b2+b+4=2m5 b^{2}+b+4=2^{m}. We note that 5b2+b+4b+45 b^{2}+b+4 \geq b+4 for every bb, hence m>nm>n. From the first equation we get b=2n1b=2^{n}-1, and since b>6b>6, then n3n \geq 3. Substituting into the second equation, we obtain: 522n92n+8=2m5 \cdot 2^{2 n}-9 \cdot 2^{n}+8=2^{m}. Dividing by 8 and rearranging, we get:
522n32m3=92n31. 5 \cdot 2^{2 n-3}-2^{m-3}=9 \cdot 2^{n-3}-1 .
Since m>n3m>n \geq 3, the left-hand side of the equation is even, so 92n319 \cdot 2^{n-3}-1 must also be even; it follows that n=3n=3, and the equation becomes 589+1=2m35 \cdot 8-9+1=2^{m-3}, from which m=8m=8. Therefore the notation 5654 in base 7 represents 2048=2112048=2^{11}, and b=7b=7 is the unique solution of the problem.

Solution 2

The proof of divisibility by 11 for numbers written in decimal base can be mimicked as follows: b1(modb+1)b \equiv-1(\bmod b+1), hence
N=5b3+6b2+5b+45(1)3+6(1)2+5(1)+40(modb+1) N=5 b^{3}+6 b^{2}+5 b+4 \equiv 5(-1)^{3}+6(-1)^{2}+5(-1)+4 \equiv 0 \quad(\bmod b+1)
Since (b+1)N(b+1) \mid N, both b+1b+1 and N/(b+1)N /(b+1) must be powers of the same prime. Now N/(b+1)=5b2+b+4=(5b4)(b+1)+8N /(b+1)=5 b^{2}+b+4=(5 b-4)(b+1)+8; it follows that the greatest common divisor between b+1b+1 and N/(b+1)N /(b+1) must divide 8. But, between two powers of the same prime, the greatest common divisor is the smaller of the two numbers: in this case, evidently b+1b+1. Therefore, since b>6b>6, the only possibility is b+1=8b+1=8, that is b=7b=7 which, upon direct verification, gives a solution.

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