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Number theory Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it Croatia

Find at least one integer aa such that for the polynomial P(x)=x5+axP(x) = x^5 + a x the statement
“if n∣P(k)−P(l)n \mid P(k) - P(l) then n∣k−ln \mid k - l, for all k,l∈Zk, l \in \mathbb{Z}”
holds only for finitely many positive integers nn, including n=95n = 95.

Solution

One such number is a=−954a = -95^4.
For that aa we have P(95)=P(0)=0P(95) = P(0) = 0, so nn divides P(95)−P(0)P(95) - P(0) for every positive integer nn, and nn does not divide 95−095 - 0 if nn is not a divisor of 9595. Therefore the statement is valid for only finitely many positive integers nn.

Let us show that the statement is valid for n=95n = 95. Let k,l∈Zk, l \in \mathbb{Z} such that 95∣P(k)−P(l)95 \mid P(k) - P(l). Since 95∣a95 \mid a we conclude that 95∣k5−l595 \mid k^5 - l^5. We want to show that 95∣k−l95 \mid k - l, so it is sufficient to prove that 5∣k−l5 \mid k - l and 19∣k−l19 \mid k - l.

By Fermat's little theorem we have k5≡k(mod5)k^5 \equiv k \pmod{5} and l5≡l(mod5)l^5 \equiv l \pmod{5}, so it follows that 5∣k−l5 \mid k - l because 5∣k5−l55 \mid k^5 - l^5.

Also by Fermat's little theorem, if kk and 1919 are relatively prime then k18≡1(mod19)k^{18} \equiv 1 \pmod{19}, so k54=(k18)3≡1(mod19)k^{54} = (k^{18})^3 \equiv 1 \pmod{19}. Therefore k55≡k(mod19)k^{55} \equiv k \pmod{19} whether kk is divisible by 1919 or not. Analogously l55≡l(mod19)l^{55} \equiv l \pmod{19}. We conclude that k≡(k5)11≡(l5)11≡l(mod19)k \equiv (k^5)^{11} \equiv (l^5)^{11} \equiv l \pmod{19}, i.e. 19∣k−l19 \mid k - l, which is what we had to prove.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.