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Number theory Difficulty 8.0 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Let mm be a positive integer, let pp be a prime, let a1=8pma_1 = 8p^m, and let an=(n+1)an1/na_n = (n+1)^{a_{n-1}/n}, n=2,3,n = 2, 3, \dots. Determine the primes pp for which the products an(11a1)(11a2)(11an)a_n\left(1 - \frac{1}{a_1}\right)\left(1 - \frac{1}{a_2}\right)\dots\left(1 - \frac{1}{a_n}\right), n=1,2,3,n = 1, 2, 3, \dots, are all integral.

Solution

The required primes are 22 and 55. Begin by noticing that if a1a_1 is any even integer, then an1a_{n-1} is an integral power of nn for all n3n \ge 3. Thus, if n3n \ge 3, then (an1)/an1=((n+1)nk1)/nk+1(a_n - 1)/a_{n-1} = ((n+1)^{n_k} - 1)/n^{k+1} for some non-negative integer kk. An easy induction on kk shows that (n+1)nk1(n+1)^{n_k} - 1 is divisible by nk+1n^{k+1} for all non-negative integers kk, so (an1)/an1(a_n - 1)/a_{n-1} is an integer for n3n \ge 3. Consequently, if n3n \ge 3, then

an(11a1)(11a2)(11an)=(a11)a21a1a31a2an1an1a_n \left(1 - \frac{1}{a_1}\right) \left(1 - \frac{1}{a_2}\right) \dots \left(1 - \frac{1}{a_n}\right) = (a_1 - 1) \cdot \frac{a_2 - 1}{a_1} \cdot \frac{a_3 - 1}{a_2} \dots \frac{a_n - 1}{a_{n-1}}

is an integer, provided that a21a_2 - 1 is divisible by a1a_1. On the other hand, since a1a_1 is coprime to a11a_1 - 1, the product a2(11a1)(11a2)=(a11)(a21)/a1a_2\left(1 - \frac{1}{a_1}\right)\left(1 - \frac{1}{a_2}\right) = (a_1 - 1)(a_2 - 1)/a_1 is an integer if and only if a21a_2 - 1 is divisible by a1a_1.

Let a1=2aa_1 = 2a, where aa is a positive integer. Then a2=3aa_2 = 3^a, and the general problem consists in determining aa so that 3a13^a - 1 is divisible by 2a2a. This is clearly the case if aa is a power of 22, so p=2p = 2 is a solution.

The other case in the problem is a=4pma = 4p^m, where pp is an odd prime. The divisibility condition implies that pp is a divisor of 34pm13^{4p^m} - 1, so p5p \ge 5. Since pp is coprime to both 33 and p1p-1, the latter must be a divisor of 44, so p=5p=5. The number 345m13^{4 \cdot 5^m} - 1 is clearly divisible by 88, and it is divisible by 5m5^m, since φ(5m)=45m1\varphi(5^m) = 4 \cdot 5^{m-1}, where φ\varphi is Euler's totient function; hence it is divisible by 85m8 \cdot 5^m. This ends the proof.

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