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Number theory Difficulty 7.5 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

A positive integer nn is downhill if its decimal representation akak1a0\overline{a_{k} a_{k-1} \ldots a_{0}} satisfies akak1a0a_{k} \geq a_{k-1} \geq \ldots \geq a_{0}. A real-coefficient polynomial PP is integer-valued if P(n)P(n) is an integer for all integer nn, and downhill-integer-valued if P(n)P(n) is an integer for all downhill positive integers nn. Is it true that every downhill-integer-valued polynomial is also integer-valued?

Solution

No, it is not.
A downhill number can always be written as ab1b2b9a-b_{1}-b_{2}-\ldots-b_{9}, where aa is of the form 999999 \ldots 99 and each bib_{i} either equals 0 or is of the form 1111\overline{11 \ldots 11}.

Let nn be a positive integer. The numbers of the form 999999 \ldots 99 yield at most nn different remainders upon division by 2n2^{n}, as do the numbers of the form 111111 \ldots 11. Therefore, downhill numbers yield at most n(n+1)9n(n+1)^{9} different remainders upon division by 2n2^{n}.

Let nn be so large that n(n+1)9<2nn(n+1)^{9}<2^{n}. ( n=63n=63 works: 63×649<6410=260<26363 \times 64^{9}<64^{10}=2^{60}<2^{63}.) Let 0r<2n0 \leq r<2^{n} be such that no downhill number is congruent to rr modulo 2n2^{n}.

Consider the polynomial

P(x)=12×(2n1)!1i<2n(xr+i). P(x)=\frac{1}{2 \times\left(2^{n}-1\right)!} \prod_{1 \leq i<2^{n}}(x-r+i) .

We have that P(r)=12P(r)=\frac{1}{2} is not an integer.
Let, then, xx be a downhill number. The number (xr+1)(xr+2n1)(x-r+1) \ldots\left(x-r+2^{n}-1\right) is a multiple of (2n1)\left(2^{n}-1\right) ! (as a product of 2n12^{n}-1 consecutive integers); therefore, 2P(x)2 P(x) is an integer. On the other hand, the number (xr)(xr+1)(xr+2n1)(x-r)(x-r+1) \ldots\left(x-r+2^{n}-1\right) is a multiple of 2n2^{n} ! (as a product of 2n2^{n} consecutive integers); therefore, 2(xr)P(x)2(x-r) P(x) is an integer multiple of 2n2^{n}. Since xx is downhill, xrx-r is not divisible by 2n2^{n}. Therefore, 2P(x)2 P(x) is even and P(x)P(x) is an integer.

Alternative version. A positive integer nn is uphill if its decimal representation akak1a0\overline{a_{k} a_{k-1} \ldots a_{0}} satisfies akak1a0a_{k} \leq a_{k-1} \leq \ldots \leq a_{0}. A real-coefficient polynomial PP is integer-valued if P(n)P(n) is an integer for all integer nn, and uphill-integer-valued if P(n)P(n) is an integer for all uphill positive integers nn. Is it true that every uphill-integer-valued polynomial is also integer-valued?

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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.