Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /85 of 120

, 2012

Number theory Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

For a positive integer nn, let ϕ(n)\phi(n) be the number of positive integers less than nn and relatively prime to nn (by convention ϕ(1)=1\phi(1) = 1). Let τ(n)\tau(n) be the number of positive integers that are divisors of nn. Find all positive integers nn such that
ϕ(n)+τ(n)>n. \phi(n) + \tau(n) > n.

Solution

The answer is n=1n = 1, n=4n = 4, or nn is any prime number. Let SS be the set of integers less than nn and relatively prime to nn, and let TT be the set of integers that are positive divisors of nn. Then
(i)S=ϕ(n) and T=τ(n), (i) \quad |S| = \phi(n) \text{ and } |T| = \tau(n),
(ii)S,T{1,2,,n}, and (ii) \quad S, T \subseteq \{1, 2, \dots, n\}, \text{ and}
(iii)ST={1}. (iii) \quad S \cap T = \{1\}.
We require S+T>n|S| + |T| > n. By the principle of inclusion-exclusion, S+TST=ST|S| + |T| - |S \cap T| = |S \cup T|. We know ST=1|S \cap T| = 1, and by S,T{1,2,,n}S, T \subseteq \{1, 2, \dots, n\}, we have STn|S \cup T| \le n. Therefore S+T>n|S| + |T| > n if and only if ST=n|S \cup T| = n, meaning that every positive integer in {1,2,,n}\{1, 2, \dots, n\} is either relatively prime to nn or a divisor of nn. It is easy to check that this is true for n=1n = 1, nn prime, and n=4n = 4. Now suppose nn is a composite number.

Let dd be the smallest divisor of nn greater than 11. d<nd < n since nn is not prime. Consider ndn-d. We have gcd(nd,n)=d>1\gcd(n-d, n) = d > 1, so ndn-d must be a divisor of nn. But n=kdn = k d for some kk, so if ndn-d divides nn then we have an mm such that m(kdd)=kdm(kd - d) = k d. This gives m(k1)=km(k-1) = k. This is only possible for k=2k=2, so n=2dn = 2d.

Then since nn is even, 22 is the smallest divisor of nn greater than 11 and d=2d = 2. Therefore n=4n = 4, and this is the only composite number that works.

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.