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Number theory Difficulty 7.8 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romania

Let aa and nn be two positive integer numbers such that the (positive) prime factors of aa be all greater than nn.
Prove that n!n! divides (a1)(a21)(an11)(a-1)(a^2-1)\cdots(a^{n-1}-1).

Solution

We show that every prime number pp, 2pn2 \le p \le n, divides the product (a1)(a21)(an11)(a-1)(a^2-1)\cdots(a^{n-1}-1) to at least as high a power as it divides n!n!. The exponent of the highest power of pp which divides n!n! is
ε=k1n/pk<k1n/pk=n/(p1). \varepsilon = \sum_{k \ge 1} \lfloor n/p^k \rfloor < \sum_{k \ge 1} n/p^k = n/(p-1).
On the other hand, by hypothesis, pp does not divide aa, so at least (n1)/(p1)\lfloor(n-1)/(p-1)\rfloor factors of the product (a1)(a21)(an11)(a-1)(a^2-1)\cdots(a^{n-1}-1) are divisible by pp, by Fermat's Little Theorem. Finally, notice that ε(n1)/(p1)\varepsilon \le \lfloor(n-1)/(p-1)\rfloor. If n/(p1)n/(p-1) is integral, then εn/(p1)1=(np)/(p1)(n1)/(p1)\varepsilon \le n/(p-1)-1 = (n-p)/(p-1) \le \lfloor(n-1)/(p-1)\rfloor; otherwise, p3p \ge 3 and n/(p1)(n1)/(p1)=1/(p1)<1n/(p-1)-(n-1)/(p-1) = 1/(p-1) < 1, so εn/(p1)=(n1)/(p1)\varepsilon \le \lfloor n/(p-1)\rfloor = \lfloor(n-1)/(p-1)\rfloor.

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