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Number theory Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it

Example 2 Define the sequence {an}\left\{a_{n}\right\} :
a1=2,an+1=2an21 a_{1}=2, a_{n+1}=2 a_{n}^{2}-1 \text {. }

Prove: For all nn, (n,an)=1(n, a_{n})=1.

Solution

【Analysis】For pn,pp \mid n, p being a prime, consider a1,a2,,ap1a_{1}, a_{2}, \cdots, a_{p-1}.
If some of the ai0,1(modp)a_{i} \equiv 0,1(\bmod p), then
ai+1=2ai21±1(modp)a_{i+1}=2 a_{i}^{2}-1 \equiv \pm 1(\bmod p),
ai+21(modp)a_{i+2} \equiv 1(\bmod p).
It can be deduced that ap±1(modp)a_{p} \equiv \pm 1(\bmod p).
Thus, ppapa_{p}.
Also, akp1(modp)a_{k p} \equiv 1(\bmod p), so an1(modp)a_{n} \equiv 1(\bmod p).
Therefore, panp \nmid a_{n}.
If a1,a2,,ap1a_{1}, a_{2}, \cdots, a_{p-1} have no remainders 0 and 1 modulo pp, then there must be
aiaj(modp)(ij)a_{i} \equiv a_{j}(\bmod p)(i \neq j).
Thus, ai+1aj+1(modp)a_{i+1} \equiv a_{j+1}(\bmod p), and ai,ai+1,,ap2,ap1a_{i}, a_{i+1}, \cdots, a_{p-2}, a_{p-1} are not divisible by pp, with a congruence period of jij-i.
Hence, anak(ji)+rar(modp)(0rji1)a_{n} \equiv a_{k(j-i)+r} \equiv a_{r}(\bmod p)(0 \leqslant r \leqslant j-i-1).
If r=0r=0, then anaji(modp)a_{n} \equiv a_{j-i}(\bmod p).
Therefore, an(modp)a_{n} \neq \equiv(\bmod p).
If n=p1α1p2α2pkαkn=p_{1}^{\alpha_{1}} p_{2}^{\alpha_{2}} \cdots p_{k}^{\alpha_{k}}, then pianp_{i} \nmid a_{n}.
Thus, (n,an)=1\left(n, a_{n}\right)=1.

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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.