Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Let S={p1p2pnp1,p2,,pnS=\{p_{1} p_{2} \cdots p_{n} \mid p_{1}, p_{2}, \ldots, p_{n} are distinct primes and p1,,pn<30}p_{1}, \ldots, p_{n}<30\}. Assume 11 is in SS. Let a1a_{1} be an element of SS. We define, for all positive integers nn:
an+1=an/(n+1) if an is divisible by n+1an+1=(n+2)an if an is not divisible by n+1 \begin{gathered} a_{n+1}=a_{n} /(n+1) \quad \text{ if } a_{n} \text{ is divisible by } n+1 \\ a_{n+1}=(n+2) a_{n} \\ \text{ if } a_{n} \text{ is not divisible by } n+1 \end{gathered}
How many distinct possible values of a1a_{1} are there such that aj=a1a_{j}=a_{1} for infinitely many jj's?

Solution

Solution:
If a1a_{1} is odd, then we can see by induction that aj=(j+1)a1a_{j}=(j+1) a_{1} when jj is even and aj=a1a_{j}=a_{1} when jj is odd (using the fact that no even jj can divide a1a_{1}). So we have infinitely many jj's for which aj=a1a_{j}=a_{1}.

If a1>2a_{1}>2 is even, then a2a_{2} is odd, since a2=a1/2a_{2}=a_{1} / 2, and a1a_{1} may have only one factor of 22. Now, in general, let p=min({p1,,pn}{2})p=\min (\{p_{1}, \ldots, p_{n}\} \setminus\{2\}). Suppose 1<j<p1<j<p. By induction, we have aj=(j+1)a1/2a_{j}=(j+1) a_{1} / 2 when jj is odd, and aj=a1/2a_{j}=a_{1} / 2 when jj is even. So aia1a_{i} \neq a_{1} for all 1<j<p1<j<p. It follows that ap=a1/2pa_{p}=a_{1} / 2 p. Then, again using induction, we get for all nonnegative integers kk that ap+k=apa_{p+k}=a_{p} if kk is even, and ap+k=(p+k+1)apa_{p+k}=(p+k+1) a_{p} if kk is odd. Clearly, apa1a_{p} \neq a_{1} and p+k+12pp+k+1 \neq 2 p when kk is odd (the left side is odd, and the right side even). It follows that aj=a1a_{j}=a_{1} for no j>1j>1.

Finally, when a1=2a_{1}=2, we can check inductively that aj=j+1a_{j}=j+1 for jj odd and aj=1a_{j}=1 for jj even.

So our answer is just the number of odd elements in SS. There are 99 odd prime numbers smaller than 3030, so the answer is 29=5122^{9}=512.

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