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Number theory Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Let a0,a1,,ada_{0}, a_{1}, \ldots, a_{d} be integers such that GCD(a0,a1)=1\operatorname{GCD}\left(a_{0}, a_{1}\right)=1. For any integer n1n \geqslant 1, we define

un=k=0dakφ(n+k) u_{n}=\sum_{k=0}^{d} a_{k} \varphi(n+k)

Prove that 1 is the only natural number that divides all integers unu_{n}.
We recall that φ(n+k)\varphi(n+k) is the number of natural numbers <n+k\ell<n+k such that GCD(,n+k)=1\operatorname{GCD}(\ell, n+k)=1.

Solution

Let us proceed by contradiction and assume that there exists a prime number pp that divides all integers unu_{n}.
First, since φ(1)=φ(2)=1\varphi(1)=\varphi(2)=1 and φ(n)\varphi(\mathfrak{n}) is even for all n2\mathfrak{n} \geqslant 2, we note that u1a0+a1(mod2)u_{1} \equiv a_{0}+a_{1}(\bmod 2) and that u2a0(mod2)u_{2} \equiv a_{0}(\bmod 2). Since a0a_{0} and a1a_{1} are coprime, the integers u1\mathfrak{u}_{1} and u2\mathfrak{u}_{2} cannot both be even, so p3p \geqslant 3.
Let δ\delta then be the largest integer such that pp does not divide aδa_{\delta}. For any integer n1n \geqslant 1, we denote by TnT_{n} the δ\delta-tuple (φ(n),φ(n+1),,φ(n+δ1))(\varphi(n), \varphi(n+1), \ldots, \varphi(n+\delta-1)), considered modulo pp. Since un0(modp)u_{n} \equiv 0(\bmod p), it follows that

φ(n+δ)aδ1k=0δ1akφ(n+k)(modp) \varphi(n+\delta) \equiv-a_{\delta}^{-1} \sum_{k=0}^{\delta-1} a_{k} \varphi(n+k) \quad(\bmod p)

Thus, if we denote by λ:(Z/pZ)δ(Z/pZ)δ\lambda:(\mathbb{Z} / \mathrm{p} \mathbb{Z})^{\delta} \mapsto(\mathbb{Z} / \mathrm{p} \mathbb{Z})^{\delta} the function defined by

λ:(x0,x1,,xδ1)(x1,x2,,xδ1,aδ1k=0δ1akxk) \lambda:\left(x_{0}, x_{1}, \ldots, x_{\delta-1}\right) \mapsto\left(x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{\delta-1},-a_{\delta}^{-1} \sum_{k=0}^{\delta-1} a_{k} x_{k}\right)

we have Tn+1=λ(Tn)\mathbf{T}_{\mathfrak{n}+1}=\lambda\left(\mathbf{T}_{\mathfrak{n}}\right). By the pigeonhole principle, there exist two integers k,1k, \ell \geqslant 1 such that Tk=Tk+\mathbf{T}_{\mathrm{k}}=\mathbf{T}_{\mathrm{k}+\ell}. We then have Tn=Tn+\mathbf{T}_{\mathbf{n}}=\mathbf{T}_{\mathrm{n}+\ell} and φ(n)φ(n+)(modp)\varphi(\mathrm{n}) \equiv \varphi(\mathrm{n}+\ell)(\bmod p) for all nkn \geqslant k.
We then prove the following lemma: for all integers a1a \geqslant 1 and b3b \geqslant 3, there exists a prime number q>aq>a such that q≢1(modb)q \not \equiv 1(\bmod b). Indeed, the integer m=max{a,b}!1m=\max \{a, b\}!-1 is congruent to -1 (modb)(\bmod b), so it must have a prime factor q≢1(modb)q \not \equiv 1(\bmod b), and qq cannot divide m+1=max{a,b}!\mathrm{m}+1=\max \{\mathrm{a}, \mathrm{b}\}!, so q>a\mathrm{q}>\mathrm{a}.
By applying this lemma twice, we deduce that there exist two prime numbers qq and rr such that q,r≢1(modp)q, r \not \equiv 1(\bmod p) and q>r>k+q>r>k+\ell. But then qq is coprime with \ell, so qφ()1(mod)q^{\varphi(\ell)} \equiv 1(\bmod \ell), and φ(qφ()n)φ(n)(modp)\varphi\left(q^{\varphi(\ell)} n\right) \equiv \varphi(n)(\bmod p) for all nkn \geqslant k.
Since q>rkq>r \geqslant k, we deduce that

(q1)qφ()φ(qφ()+1)φ(q)q1(modp)(r1)(q1)qφ()1φ(rqφ())φ(r) \begin{array}{rlr} (q-1) q^{\varphi(\ell)} & \equiv \varphi\left(q^{\varphi(\ell)+1}\right) \equiv \varphi(q) & \equiv q-1 \quad(\bmod p) \\ (r-1)(q-1) q^{\varphi(\ell)-1} & \equiv \varphi\left(r q^{\varphi(\ell)}\right) & \equiv \varphi(r) \end{array}

Since q,r≢1(modp)q, r \not \equiv 1(\bmod p), it follows that qφ()(q1)qφ()11(modp)q^{\varphi(\ell)} \equiv(q-1) q^{\varphi(\ell)-1} \equiv 1(\bmod p), so qφ()10q^{\varphi(\ell)-1} \equiv 0 (modp)(\bmod p), which is impossible. We have thus obtained the desired contradiction, which concludes the proof.

Note: We can also appeal to Dirichlet's theorem, which states that for all integers aa and bb that are coprime, there are infinitely many prime numbers qa(modb)q \equiv a(\bmod b). There then exist prime numbers q0>q1>>qd>p+dq_{0}>q_{1}>\ldots>q_{d}>p+d congruent to 1(modp)1(\bmod p). Then, if we choose k{0,1}k \in\{0,1\} such that pp does not divide aka_{k}, there also exists a prime number rr such that r2(modp)r \equiv 2(\bmod p) and rki(modqi)r \equiv k-i\left(\bmod q_{i}\right) for all iki \neq k. Then pp does not divide urku_{r-k}.

Exercise 7. Let n2n \geqslant 2 be an integer. Clara has a board of size 3n×3n3 n \times 3 n, similar to a chessboard. She has just invented a new piece, the leopard, which she can move as follows: by moving it one square up, one square to the right, or one square diagonally, down and to the left. Clara placed her leopard on one of the squares of the board, then moved it so that it never passes through the same square twice, until it returns to its starting square.
What is the maximum number of moves Clara could have made in this way?

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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.