Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /314 of 520

Number theory Difficulty 6.6 National olympiad Prove it

Let n,mn, m be integers greater than 1, and let a1,a2,,ama_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{m} be positive integers not greater than nmn^{m}. Prove that there exist positive integers b1,b2,,bmb_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{m} not greater than nn, such that

gcd(a1+b1,a2+b2,,am+bm)<n \operatorname{gcd}\left(a_{1}+b_{1}, a_{2}+b_{2}, \ldots, a_{m}+b_{m}\right)<n

where gcd(x1,x2,,xm)\operatorname{gcd}\left(x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{m}\right) denotes the greatest common divisor of x1,x2,,xmx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{m}.

Solution

Suppose without loss of generality that a1a_{1} is the smallest of the aia_{i}. If a1nm1a_{1} \geq n^{m}-1, then the problem is simple: either all the aia_{i} are equal, or a1=nm1a_{1}=n^{m}-1 and aj=nma_{j}=n^{m} for some jj. In the first case, we can take (say) b1=1,b2=2b_{1}=1, b_{2}=2, and the rest of the bib_{i} can be arbitrary, and we have

gcd(a1+b1,a2+b2,,am+bm)gcd(a1+b1,a2+b2)=1 \operatorname{gcd}\left(a_{1}+b_{1}, a_{2}+b_{2}, \ldots, a_{m}+b_{m}\right) \leq \operatorname{gcd}\left(a_{1}+b_{1}, a_{2}+b_{2}\right)=1

In the second case, we can take b1=1,bj=1b_{1}=1, b_{j}=1, and the rest of the bib_{i} arbitrary, and again

gcd(a1+b1,a2+b2,,am+bm)gcd(a1+b1,aj+bj)=1 \operatorname{gcd}\left(a_{1}+b_{1}, a_{2}+b_{2}, \ldots, a_{m}+b_{m}\right) \leq \operatorname{gcd}\left(a_{1}+b_{1}, a_{j}+b_{j}\right)=1

So from now on we can suppose that a1nm2a_{1} \leq n^{m}-2.
Now, let us suppose the desired b1,,bmb_{1}, \ldots, b_{m} do not exist, and seek a contradiction. Then, for any choice of b1,,bm{1,,n}b_{1}, \ldots, b_{m} \in\{1, \ldots, n\}, we have

gcd(a1+b1,a2+b2,,am+bm)n \operatorname{gcd}\left(a_{1}+b_{1}, a_{2}+b_{2}, \ldots, a_{m}+b_{m}\right) \geq n

Also, we have

gcd(a1+b1,a2+b2,,am+bm)a1+b1nm+n2 \operatorname{gcd}\left(a_{1}+b_{1}, a_{2}+b_{2}, \ldots, a_{m}+b_{m}\right) \leq a_{1}+b_{1} \leq n^{m}+n-2

Thus there are at most nm1n^{m}-1 possible values for the greatest common divisor. However, there are nmn^{m} choices for the mm-tuple (b1,,bm)\left(b_{1}, \ldots, b_{m}\right). Then, by the pigeonhole principle, there are two mm-tuples that yield the same values for the greatest common divisor, say dd. But since dnd \geq n, for each ii there can be at most one choice of bi{1,2,,n}b_{i} \in\{1,2, \ldots, n\} such that ai+bia_{i}+b_{i} is divisible by dd - and therefore there can be at most one mm-tuple (b1,b2,,bm)\left(b_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{m}\right) yielding dd as the greatest common divisor. This is the desired contradiction.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.