Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Determine the positive integers n>1n > 1 such that, for any divisor dd of nn, the numbers d2d+1d^2 - d + 1 and d2+d+1d^2 + d + 1 are prime.

Solution

First, we prove that nn is square-free. If d2d^2 divides nn for a positive integer d>1d > 1, then (d2)2+d2+1(d^2)^2+d^2+1 would be a prime number. But d4+d2+1=(d2d+1)(d2+d+1)d^4+d^2+1 = (d^2-d+1)(d^2+d+1), with both factors larger than 11, which is a contradiction.

Thus, n=p1p2psn = p_1 \cdot p_2 \cdot \dots \cdot p_s, where sNs \in \mathbb{N} and p1<p2<<psp_1 < p_2 < \dots < p_s are prime numbers. Let p>5p > 5 be a prime number. Then p1(mod6)p \equiv 1 \pmod{6} or p5(mod6)p \equiv 5 \pmod{6}. If p1(mod6)p \equiv 1 \pmod{6}, then p2+p+13(mod6)p^2 + p + 1 \equiv 3 \pmod{6}, and p2+p+1>3p^2 + p + 1 > 3 is composite.

If p5(mod6)p \equiv 5 \pmod{6}, then p2p+13(mod6)p^2-p+1 \equiv 3 \pmod{6}, and p2p+1>3p^2-p+1 > 3 is composite.

In conclusion, the only prime factors of nn can be 22 and 33, so n{2,3,6}n \in \{2, 3, 6\}. It is easy to check that all these three numbers fulfill the given condition.

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