Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Soviet Union

Problem:
Show that there are infinitely many odd composite numbers in the sequence 111^{1}, 11+221^{1} + 2^{2}, 11+22+331^{1} + 2^{2} + 3^{3}, 11+22+33+441^{1} + 2^{2} + 3^{3} + 4^{4}, ... .

Solution

Solution:
We show that infinitely many odd numbers in the sequence are divisible by 33.

If n=14(mod36)n = 14 \pmod{36}, then n=36m+14n = 36m + 14 for some mm. So there are 18m+718m + 7 odd numbers in the sum and 18m+718m + 7 even numbers. Hence the sum is odd.

There are 12m+512m + 5 numbers equal to 1(mod3)1 \pmod{3}, 12m+512m + 5 equal to 1(mod3)-1 \pmod{3} and 12m+412m + 4 equal to 0(mod3)0 \pmod{3}.

Any product of numbers equal to 1(mod3)1 \pmod{3} equals 1(mod3)1 \pmod{3}, so if k=1(mod3)k = 1 \pmod{3}, then kk=1(mod3)k^{k} = 1 \pmod{3}. Similarly, if k=0(mod3)k = 0 \pmod{3}, then kk=0(mod3)k^{k} = 0 \pmod{3}. If k=1(mod3)k = -1 \pmod{3} then kk=1(mod3)k^{k} = -1 \pmod{3} if kk is odd and 11 mod if kk is even.

Of the 12m+512m + 5 numbers equal to 1(mod3)-1 \pmod{3}, 6m+36m + 3 are even and 6m+26m + 2 are odd. Hence the sum =(12m+5)1+(6m+3)1+(6m+2)(1)+(12m+4)0=12m+60(mod3)= (12m + 5) \cdot 1 + (6m + 3) \cdot 1 + (6m + 2) \cdot (-1) + (12m + 4) \cdot 0 = 12m + 6 \equiv 0 \pmod{3}.

So the sum is divisible by 33.

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