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Algebra Difficulty 7.3 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
For any positive integer nn set
An={j:1jn, (j,n)=1} A_{n} = \{ j : 1 \leq j \leq n,\ (j, n) = 1 \}
Find all nn such that the polynomial
Pn(x)=jAnxj1 P_{n}(x) = \sum_{j \in A_{n}} x^{j-1}
is irreducible over Z[x]\mathbb{Z}[x].

Solution

Solution:
We have P1(x)=P2(x)=1P_{1}(x) = P_{2}(x) = 1, P3(x)=x+1P_{3}(x) = x + 1, P4(x)=x2+1P_{4}(x) = x^{2} + 1 and P6(x)=x4+1P_{6}(x) = x^{4} + 1. Hence the integers n=1,2,3,4,6n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 have the desired property. We shall prove that these are the only solutions of the problem.

It is enough to show that for n3n \geq 3 the polynomial Pn(x)P_{n}(x) has a divisor of the form 1+xr1 + x^{r}, r1r \geq 1, which is a proper divisor for n=5n = 5 and n7n \geq 7.

If n3n \geq 3 is a prime, this follows by the decomposition
Pn(x)=(1+x)(1+x2+x4++xn3) P_{n}(x) = (1 + x)\left(1 + x^{2} + x^{4} + \cdots + x^{n-3}\right)
Note also that P4(x)=x2+1P_{4}(x) = x^{2} + 1.

Now we shall use induction on nn. Suppose that the statement is true for all m3m \geq 3 that are less than nn. If n6n \geq 6 is a composite integer, then n=mpn = m p, where pp is prime and m3m \geq 3. Two cases are possible.

Case 1. pp divides mm. Then we have that An=i=0p1(Am+im)A_{n} = \cup_{i=0}^{p-1} (A_{m} + i m) and hence Pn(x)=Pm(x)i=0p1ximP_{n}(x) = P_{m}(x) \sum_{i=0}^{p-1} x^{i m}. It remains to use that Pm(x)P_{m}(x) has a divisor of the form 1+xr1 + x^{r}.

Case 2. pp does not divide mm. Using that
An=(i=0p1(Am+im))(pAm) A_{n} = \left(\cup_{i=0}^{p-1} (A_{m} + i m)\right) \setminus (p A_{m})
and xkp1=xp1(xp)k1x^{k p - 1} = x^{p - 1} (x^{p})^{k - 1}, it follows that
Pn(x)=Pm(x)i=0p1ximxp1Pm(xp) P_{n}(x) = P_{m}(x) \sum_{i=0}^{p-1} x^{i m} - x^{p-1} P_{m}(x^{p})
By the induction assumption, Pm(x)P_{m}(x) has a divisor of the form 1+xr1 + x^{r}. Therefore 1+xpr1 + x^{p r} divides Pm(xp)P_{m}(x^{p}). We shall consider two subcases.

a) If p3p \geq 3, then pp is odd and 1+xr1 + x^{r} divides 1+xpr1 + x^{p r}. Hence 1+xr1 + x^{r} divides Pn(x)P_{n}(x).

b) If p=2p = 2, we may assume that mm is prime (otherwise, mm has an odd prime divisor and we may go either to a) or to the first case). Then
Pn(x)=(1+xm+1)(1+x2+x4++xm3) P_{n}(x) = (1 + x^{m+1})\left(1 + x^{2} + x^{4} + \cdots + x^{m-3}\right)
It remains to observe that Pn(x)=1+xrP_{n}(x) = 1 + x^{r} only for n=3,4,6n = 3, 4, 6 which completes the solution.

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