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Number theory Difficulty 7.0 National olympiad Prove it

Let NN be the set of those positive integers nn for which nkk1n\mid k^k-1 implies nk1n\mid k-1 for every positive integer kk. Prove that if n1,n2Nn_1,n_2\in N, then their greatest common divisor is also in NN.

Solution

1. **Define the Set S S :**
S={nZ>0: for each prime pn and prime q(p1) we have qn} S = \{n \in \mathbb{Z}_{>0} : \text{ for each prime } p \mid n \text{ and prime } q \mid (p-1) \text{ we have } q \mid n\}
We aim to show that S=N S = N .

2. **Prove SN S \subseteq N :**
- Let nS n \in S and k k be a positive integer such that nkk1 n \mid k^k - 1 . We need to show nk1 n \mid k - 1 , i.e., k1(modn) k \equiv 1 \pmod{n} .
- Consider a prime p p such that pen p^e \parallel n (i.e., pen p^e \mid n and pe+1n p^{e+1} \nmid n ).
- Let o o be the order of k k modulo pe p^e . By Euler's theorem, oφ(pe) o \mid \varphi(p^e) , and since nkk1 n \mid k^k - 1 , we have ok o \mid k , so ogcd(k,φ(pe)) o \mid \gcd(k, \varphi(p^e)) .
- Since gcd(k,n)=1 \gcd(k, n) = 1 , it follows that pk p \nmid k . Therefore, ogcd(k,p1) o \mid \gcd(k, p-1) .
- If there is a prime qo q \mid o , then qgcd(k,p1) q \mid \gcd(k, p-1) , which implies qp1 q \mid p-1 and qk q \mid k . Since nS n \in S , we get qn q \mid n and qk q \mid k , contradicting gcd(n,k)=1 \gcd(n, k) = 1 . Thus, o=1 o = 1 and nk1 n \mid k - 1 .

3. **Prove NS N \subseteq S :**
- Assume for contradiction that there exists nN n \in N such that nS n \notin S . Then there is a prime pn p \mid n and a prime qp1 q \mid p-1 such that qn q \nmid n .
- Let v>0 v > 0 such that pvn p^v \parallel n . Since p p and q q are primes and qn q \nmid n , q q , n/pv n/p^v , and pv p^v are pairwise coprime.
- By the Chinese Remainder Theorem, we can choose a positive integer k k such that:
{k0(modq)k1(modn/pv)kgφ(pv)/q(modpv) \begin{cases} k \equiv 0 \pmod{q} \\ k \equiv 1 \pmod{n/p^v} \\ k \equiv g^{\varphi(p^v)/q} \pmod{p^v} \end{cases}
where g g is a primitive root modulo pv p^v .
- Since g g is a primitive root and φ(pv)q<φ(pv) \frac{\varphi(p^v)}{q} < \varphi(p^v) , it follows that kgφ(pv)/q≢1(modpv) k \equiv g^{\varphi(p^v)/q} \not\equiv 1 \pmod{p^v} , so pvk1 p^v \nmid k - 1 , implying:
nk1(1) n \nmid k - 1 \tag{1}
- Since qk q \mid k , we can write k=q k = \ell q for some positive integer \ell . By Euler's theorem:
kk=(gφ(pv)/q)q=(gq)φ(pv)1(modpv) k^k = \left( g^{\varphi(p^v)/q} \right)^{\ell q} = (g^q)^{\varphi(p^v)} \equiv 1 \pmod{p^v}
and since kk1k1(modn/pv) k^k \equiv 1^k \equiv 1 \pmod{n/p^v} , we get kk1(modn) k^k \equiv 1 \pmod{n} , implying nkk1 n \mid k^k - 1 . From this and (1), it follows that nN n \notin N , a contradiction. Therefore, S=N S = N .

4. **Show gcd(n1,n2)S \gcd(n_1, n_2) \in S for n1,n2S n_1, n_2 \in S :**
- Let pgcd(n1,n2) p \mid \gcd(n_1, n_2) and qp1 q \mid p-1 . Since pni p \mid n_i and niS n_i \in S , we get qni q \mid n_i . Thus, qgcd(n1,n2) q \mid \gcd(n_1, n_2) . Therefore, gcd(n1,n2)S \gcd(n_1, n_2) \in S .

\blacksquare

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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.