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Number theory Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Canada

Problem:

Let d(k)d(k) denote the number of positive integer divisors of kk. For example, d(6)=4d(6)=4 since 66 has 44 positive divisors, namely, 1,2,31, 2, 3, and 66. Prove that for all positive integers nn,
d(1)+d(3)+d(5)++d(2n1)d(2)+d(4)+d(6)++d(2n) d(1)+d(3)+d(5)+\cdots+d(2n-1) \leq d(2)+d(4)+d(6)+\cdots+d(2n)

Solution

Solution:

For any integer kk and set of integers SS, let fS(k)f_{S}(k) be the number of multiples of kk in SS. We can count the number of pairs (k,s)(k, s) with kNk \in \mathbb{N} dividing sSs \in S in two different ways, as follows:
- For each sSs \in S, there are d(s)d(s) pairs that include ss, one for each divisor of ss.
- For each kNk \in \mathbb{N}, there are fk(S)f_{k}(S) pairs that include kk, one for each multiple of kk.

Therefore,
sSd(s)=kNfS(k) \sum_{s \in S} d(s) = \sum_{k \in \mathbb{N}} f_{S}(k)
Let
O={1,3,5,,2n1}andE={2,4,6,,2n} O = \{1, 3, 5, \ldots, 2n-1\} \quad \text{and} \quad E = \{2, 4, 6, \ldots, 2n\}
be the set of odd and, respectively, the set of even integers between 11 and 2n2n. It suffices to show that
kNfO(k)kNfE(k) \sum_{k \in \mathbb{N}} f_{O}(k) \leq \sum_{k \in \mathbb{N}} f_{E}(k)
Since the elements of OO only have odd divisors,
kNfO(k)=k oddfO(k) \sum_{k \in \mathbb{N}} f_{O}(k) = \sum_{k \text{ odd}} f_{O}(k)
For any odd kk, consider the multiples of kk between 11 and 2n2n. They form a sequence
k,2k,3k,,2nkk k, 2k, 3k, \ldots, \left\lfloor \frac{2n}{k} \right\rfloor k
alternating between odd and even terms. There are either an equal number of odd and even terms, or there is one more odd term than even terms. Therefore, we have the inequality
fO(k)fE(k)+1 f_{O}(k) \leq f_{E}(k) + 1
for all odd kk. Combining this with the previous observations gives us the desired inequality:
kNfO(k)=k oddfO(k)k odd(fE(k)+1)=k oddfE(k)+n=k oddfE(k)+fE(2)kNfE(k) \begin{aligned} \sum_{k \in \mathbb{N}} f_{O}(k) & = \sum_{k \text{ odd}} f_{O}(k) \\ & \leq \sum_{k \text{ odd}} \left(f_{E}(k) + 1\right) \\ & = \sum_{k \text{ odd}} f_{E}(k) + n \\ & = \sum_{k \text{ odd}} f_{E}(k) + f_{E}(2) \\ & \leq \sum_{k \in \mathbb{N}} f_{E}(k) \end{aligned}

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