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Number theory Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Prove it

9. Let [a0;a1,a2,,an]\left[a_{0} ; a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{n}\right] be the simple continued fraction expansion of r/sr / s where (r,s)=1(r, s)=1 and r1r \geqslant 1. Show that this continued fraction is symmetric, i.e. a0=an,a1=an1,a2=an2,a_{0}=a_{n}, a_{1}=a_{n-1}, a_{2}=a_{n-2}, \ldots, if and only if s(r2+1)s \mid\left(r^{2}+1\right) if nn is odd and s(r21)s \mid\left(r^{2}-1\right) if nn is even. (Hint: Use problem 6 and Theorem 10.10).

Solution

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