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Number theory Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
Find the largest positive integer nn for which there exists a set {a1,a2,,an}\{a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{n}\} of composite positive integers with the following properties:
(i) any two of them are coprime;
(ii) 1<ai(3n+1)21 < a_{i} \leq (3n+1)^{2} for i=1,,ni = 1, \ldots, n.

Solution

Solution:
Suppose that nn has the required property. For every j=1,2,,nj = 1, 2, \ldots, n denote by qjq_{j} the least prime divisor of aja_{j} and let q=max1inqiq = \max_{1 \leq i \leq n} q_{i}. Without loss of generality we may assume that q=q1q = q_{1}. Then
(3n+1)2a1q12pn2 (3n+1)^{2} \geq a_{1} \geq q_{1}^{2} \geq p_{n}^{2}
where pnp_{n} is the nn-th prime number. Therefore we have pn3n+1p_{n} \leq 3n+1. It is easy to show (by induction) that pn>3n+1p_{n} > 3n+1 for every n15n \geq 15. Hence n14n \leq 14. Since the set {22,32,52,,p142}\{2^{2}, 3^{2}, 5^{2}, \ldots, p_{14}^{2}\} has the required properties, we conclude that n=14n = 14.

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