Number theoryDifficulty 5.6AIME, harderProve itSpain
Let p,n be positive integers such that p is prime and p<n. If p divides n+1 and ([pn],(p−1)!)=1, then prove that p⋅[pn]2 divides (pn)−[pn]. (Here [x] represents the integer part of the real number x.)
Solution
Since p∣n+1, then p∣n+1−p. So, there exists k∈N such that n=kp+p−1 and ⌊pn⌋=k. Now, we have (pn)−⌊pn⌋=(pkp+p−1)−k=p!(kp+p−1)(kp+p−2)…(kp+1)(kp)−k=(p−1)!k(kp+1)(kp+2)…(kp+p−1)−k(p−1)!
=(p−1)!k(k⋅p⋅r+(p−1)!)−k(p−1)!=(p−1)!k2⋅p⋅r∈N Since ([pn],(p−1)!)=1, then (p−1)! divides r and therefore (pn)−[pn] is divisible by p⋅[pn]2 as we wanted to prove. □
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