Let denote the set of positive integers. For any positive integer , a function is called -good if for all . Find all such that there exists a -good function. (Canada)
Solution
For any function , let . Note that a -good function is also -good for any positive integer . Hence, it suffices to show that there does not exist a 1-good function and that there exists a 2-good function. We first show that there is no 1-good function. Suppose that there exists a function such that for all . Now, if there are two distinct even numbers and such that and are both even, then , a contradiction. A similar argument holds if there are two distinct odd numbers and such that and are both odd. Hence we can choose an even and an odd such that is odd and is even. This also implies that , a contradiction. We now construct a 2-good function. Define , where is defined recursively by and . For any positive integers , set
We need to show that . First, note that is not divisible by 4, so that . Now we suppose that there is an odd prime for which and derive a contradiction. We first claim that . This is a rather weak bound; one way to prove it is as follows. Observe that and hence for every positive integer . By repeatedly applying this inequality, we obtain . Now, since , we have , so that . Hence , which yields . However, since , this implies that , a contradiction.