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Number theory Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

3. Let k=2a0p1a1psask=2^{a_{0}} p_{1}^{a_{1}} \cdots p_{s}^{a_{s}}. Prove: χ(n;k)\chi(n ; k) is a real character if and only if:
(i) When α0=0\alpha_{0}=0, χ(n;k)=(np1)β1(nps)β3\chi(n ; k)=\left(\frac{n}{p_{1}}\right)^{\beta_{1}} \cdots\left(\frac{n}{p_{s}}\right)^{\beta_{3}}, where βj=1\beta_{j}=1 or 2;
(ii) When α01\alpha_{0} \geqslant 1,
χ(n;k)=(4n)β1(8n)β0(np1)β1(nps)βs,\chi(n ; k)=\left(\frac{-4}{n}\right)^{\beta_{-1}}\left(\frac{8}{n}\right)^{\beta_{0}}\left(\frac{n}{p_{1}}\right)^{\beta_{1}} \cdots\left(\frac{n}{p_{s}}\right)^{\beta_{s}},

where βj=1\beta_{j}=1 or 2,2n2,2 \nmid n.

Solution

3. Using expression (33). The principal character modulo pαp^{\alpha} is χ(n;pα,0)=χ(n;p,0)\chi\left(n ; p^{\alpha}, 0\right)=\chi(n ; p, 0), and the non-principal real character modulo pαp^{\alpha} is χ(n;pα,φ(pα)/2)=χ(n;p,(p1)/2)=(np)\chi\left(n ; p^{\alpha}, \varphi\left(p^{\alpha}\right) / 2\right)=\chi(n ; p,(p-1) / 2)=\left(\frac{n}{p}\right), where expression (28) is used. For a given pp, the same primitive root is taken for all moduli pα(α1)p^{\alpha}(\alpha \geqslant 1). The real characters modulo 2 are given by taking β1=β0=2\beta_{-1}=\beta_{0}=2, and the real characters modulo 4 are given by taking β0=2,β1=1,2\beta_{0}=2, \beta_{-1}=1,2 (verify directly and see the explanation after equation (9)). The real characters modulo 2α0(α03)2^{\alpha_{0}}\left(\alpha_{0} \geqslant 3\right), as known from equation (32), are: χ(n;2α0,l1,0)=χ(n;8,l1,0)=χ(n;4,l1)\chi\left(n ; 2^{\alpha_{0}}, l_{-1}, 0\right)=\chi\left(n ; 8, l_{-1}, 0\right)=\chi\left(n ; 4, l_{-1}\right), i.e.,

i.e., take β1=1,2,β0=1\beta_{-1}=1,2, \beta_{0}=1.
β1=1,2,β0=0χ(n;2α0,l1,2α03)=χ(n;8,l1,1)=χ(n;4,l1)χ(n;8,0,1)=χ(n;4,l1)(2n)=χ(n;4,l1)(8n),\begin{array}{l} \beta_{-1}=1,2, \beta_{0}=0 \text {; } \\ \chi\left(n ; 2^{\alpha_{0}}, l_{-1}, 2^{\alpha_{0}-3}\right)=\chi\left(n ; 8, l_{-1}, 1\right)=\chi(n ; 4, l_{-1}) \cdot \chi(n ; 8,0,1) \\ =\chi\left(n ; 4, l_{-1}\right)\left(\frac{2}{n}\right)=\chi\left(n ; 4, l_{-1}\right)\left(\frac{8}{n}\right), \end{array}

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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.