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, 2025

Number theory Difficulty 7.9 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO)

Let P(x)P(x) be a non-constant polynomial with integer coefficients such that P(0)0P(0) \neq 0. Let a1,a2,a3,a_{1}, a_{2}, a_{3}, \ldots be an infinite sequence of integers such that P(ij)P(i-j) divides aiaja_{i}-a_{j} for all distinct positive integers i,ji, j. Prove that the sequence a1,a2,a3,a_{1}, a_{2}, a_{3}, \ldots must be constant, that is, ana_{n} equals a constant cc for all nn positive integer.

Solution

Let a0=P(0)0a_{0}=P(0) \neq 0 be the independent coefficient, i.e., the constant term of P(x)P(x). Then there are infinitely many primes pp such that pp divides P(k)P(k) but pp does not divide kk. In fact, since P(k)a0P(k)-a_{0} is a multiple of kk, gcd(P(k),k)=gcd(k,a0)a0\operatorname{gcd}(P(k), k)=\operatorname{gcd}\left(k, a_{0}\right) \leq a_{0} is bounded, so pick, say, kk with prime factors each larger than a0a_{0}.

Since P(k)P(k) divides ai+kaia_{i+k}-a_{i}, pp divides ai+kaia_{i+k}-a_{i}. Moreover, since P(k+p)P(k)0(modp)P(k+p) \equiv P(k) \equiv 0 (\bmod p), pp also divides ai+k+paia_{i+k+p}-a_{i}. Therefore, aimodpa_{i} \bmod p is periodic with periods k+pk+p and kk. By Bezout's theorem, gcd(k+p,k)=1\operatorname{gcd}(k+p, k)=1 is also a period, that is, pp divides ai+1aia_{i+1}-a_{i} for all ii and pp such that pP(k)p \mid P(k) and pkp \nmid k for some kk. Since there are infinitely many such primes pp, ai+1aia_{i+1}-a_{i} is divisible by infinitely many primes, which implies ai+1=aia_{i+1}=a_{i}, that is, the sequence is constant.

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