Number theoryDifficulty 5.9AIME, harderProve itMongolia
Find all sequences a1,a2,… of positive integers such that the expression nan−mam+2am−1 is divisible by an+am−1 for all n,m≥1. (Unubold Munkhbat)
Solution
Answer: an=1+c(n−1) for fixed c≥0. It is clear that the above is a solution, so we prove there are no other solutions. The expression n−an+am−1nan−mam+2am−1=an+am−1n(am−1)+(m−2)am+1 is an integer for all n,m≥1. Let c=a2−1≥0. Taking m=2, we see that an+ccn+1 is a positive integer. If c=0, we have an=1 for all n≥1. So assume c≥1 and suppose that cn+1 is a prime. Clearly an+c≥2, therefore an=1+c(n−1). Finally, (am−1)−ccn+am−cn(am−1)+(m−2)am+1=cn+am−cam(am−1−c(m−1)) is an integer for any m≥1. By Dirichlet's theorem, we may assume that n is sufficiently large, so we must have am=1+c(m−1).
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