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Number theory Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Prove it

Lemma 8 Let pp be a prime number, mm be a positive integer, m=nα+βm=n \alpha+\beta, where α\alpha is a non-negative integer and β\beta is a non-negative integer no greater than n1n-1. Let a=pma=p^{m}, when β=0\beta=0, then an\sqrt[n]{a} is a positive integer. When 1β1 \leqslant \beta \leqslant n1n-1, then an=b+c\sqrt[n]{a}=b+c, where bb is a positive integer and cc is an infinite decimal but not a repeating decimal.

Solution

Proof: Let 1βn11 \leqslant \beta \leqslant n-1, and cc is a finite decimal, then cc can be converted into a fraction, i.e., c=a1b1c=\frac{a_{1}}{b_{1}}, where a1,b1a_{1}, b_{1} are positive integers. When 1βn11 \leqslant \beta \leqslant n-1, then an=b+c=b1b+a1b1\sqrt[n]{a}=b+c=\frac{b_{1} b+a_{1}}{b_{1}}. That is, at this time an\sqrt[n]{a} can be expressed as a fraction, which contradicts Lemma 7, so cc cannot be a finite decimal but an infinite decimal. Suppose cc is a repeating decimal, then cc can also be converted into a fraction. Therefore, when 1βn11 \leqslant \beta \leqslant n-1, an\sqrt[n]{a} can also be expressed as a fraction, which contradicts Lemma 7. Hence, cc is not a repeating decimal, and the lemma is proved.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.