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Number theory Difficulty 6.2 National Olympiad Prove it Japan

Suppose nn is a positive integer of 3 distinct non-zero digits. Let gg be the greatest common divisor of the 6 numbers obtained by permuting the digits of nn. Determine the maximum possible value that gg can take.

Solution

[18]
First, let us show that gg cannot exceed 1818 for any nn. Denote by a,b,ca, b, c the 33 digits of nn, where we assume a<b<ca < b < c. Both 100c+10b+a100c+10b+a and 100c+10a+b100c+10a+b are numbers obtained by permuting the digits of nn. Hence gg is a divisor of (100c+10b+a)(100c+10a+b)=9(ba)(100c+10b+a) - (100c+10a+b) = 9(b-a). Similarly, we get that gg is a divisor of 9(cb)9(c-b) and of 9(ca)9(c-a). If we set x=bax = b-a, y=cby = c-b, z=caz = c-a, then x,y,zx, y, z are positive integers not exceeding 88, and satisfy x+y=zx+y=z. If we denote by gg' the greatest common divisor of x,y,zx, y, z then gg is a divisor of 9g9g'.

(1) If g5g' \ge 5, there exists at most 11 number less than or equal to 88 divisible by gg', and we get a contradiction to the fact that x+y=zx + y = z. So, g5g' \ge 5 is impossible.

(2) If g=4g' = 4, then 44 and 88 are the only positive integers not bigger than 88 and divisible by 44, so we must have (x,y,z)=(4,4,8)(x, y, z) = (4, 4, 8). We then have (a,b,c)=(1,5,9)(a, b, c) = (1, 5, 9) and g=3g = 3.

(3) If g=3g' = 3, then 33 and 66 are the only positive integers not bigger than 88 and divisible by 33, so we must have (x,y,z)=(3,3,6)(x, y, z) = (3, 3, 6). Then (a,b,c)(a, b, c) must be (1,4,7)(1, 4, 7) or (2,5,8)(2, 5, 8) or (3,6,9)(3, 6, 9) and the value of gg is 33, 33, 99, respectively.

(4) If g2g' \le 2, then since gg divides 9g9g', we must have g9g18g \le 9g' \le 18.

Thus we have shown that g18g \le 18. On the other hand if n=468n = 468, then g=18g = 18 and this shows that 1818 is the maximum possible value for gg.

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