Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /294 of 520

Number theory Difficulty 6.6 National olympiad Prove it

Given a positive integer kk, show that there exists a prime pp such that one can choose distinct integers a1,a2,,ak+3{1,2,,p1}a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{k+3} \in\{1,2, \ldots, p-1\} such that pp divides aiai+1ai+2ai+3ia_{i} a_{i+1} a_{i+2} a_{i+3}-i for all i=1,2,,ki=1,2, \ldots, k. (South Africa)

Solution

First we choose distinct positive rational numbers r1,,rk+3r_{1}, \ldots, r_{k+3} such that
riri+1ri+2ri+3=i for 1ik r_{i} r_{i+1} r_{i+2} r_{i+3}=i \quad \text { for } 1 \leqslant i \leqslant k
Let r1=x,r2=y,r3=zr_{1}=x, r_{2}=y, r_{3}=z be some distinct primes greater than kk; the remaining terms satisfy r4=1r1r2r3r_{4}=\frac{1}{r_{1} r_{2} r_{3}} and ri+4=i+1irir_{i+4}=\frac{i+1}{i} r_{i}. It follows that if rir_{i} are represented as irreducible fractions, the numerators are divisible by xx for i1(mod4)i \equiv 1(\bmod 4), by yy for i2(mod4)i \equiv 2(\bmod 4), by zz for i3(mod4)i \equiv 3(\bmod 4) and by none for i0(mod4)i \equiv 0(\bmod 4). Notice that ri<ri+4r_{i}<r_{i+4}; thus the sequences r1<r5<r9<r_{1}<r_{5}<r_{9}<\ldots, r2<r6<r10<,r3<r7<r11<,r4<r8<r12<r_{2}<r_{6}<r_{10}<\ldots, r_{3}<r_{7}<r_{11}<\ldots, r_{4}<r_{8}<r_{12}<\ldots are increasing and have no common terms, that is, all rir_{i} are distinct. If each rir_{i} is represented by an irreducible fraction uivi\frac{u_{i}}{v_{i}}, choose a prime pp which divides neither vi,1ik+1v_{i}, 1 \leqslant i \leqslant k+1, nor vivj(rirj)=vjuiviujv_{i} v_{j}\left(r_{i}-r_{j}\right)=v_{j} u_{i}-v_{i} u_{j} for i<ji<j, and define aia_{i} by the congruence aiviui(modp)a_{i} v_{i} \equiv u_{i}(\bmod p). Since riri+1ri+2ri+3=ir_{i} r_{i+1} r_{i+2} r_{i+3}=i, we have
ivivi+1vi+2vi+3=riviri+1vi+1ri+2vi+2ri+3vi+3=uiui+1ui+2ui+3aiviai+1vi+1ai+2vi+2ai+3vi+3(modp) \begin{aligned} i v_{i} v_{i+1} v_{i+2} v_{i+3}=r_{i} v_{i} r_{i+1} v_{i+1} r_{i+2} & v_{i+2} r_{i+3} v_{i+3} \\ & =u_{i} u_{i+1} u_{i+2} u_{i+3} \equiv a_{i} v_{i} a_{i+1} v_{i+1} a_{i+2} v_{i+2} a_{i+3} v_{i+3} \quad(\bmod p) \end{aligned}
and therefore aiai+1ai+2ai+3i(modp)a_{i} a_{i+1} a_{i+2} a_{i+3} \equiv i(\bmod p) for 1ik1 \leqslant i \leqslant k. If aiaj(modp)a_{i} \equiv a_{j}(\bmod p), then uivjaivivjujvi(modp)u_{i} v_{j} \equiv a_{i} v_{i} v_{j} \equiv u_{j} v_{i}(\bmod p), a contradiction. Comment. One can explicitly express residues bia1a2ai(modp)b_{i} \equiv a_{1} a_{2} \cdot \ldots \cdot a_{i}(\bmod p) in terms of b1,b2,b3b_{1}, b_{2}, b_{3} and b0=1b_{0}=1 :
bi+3=i(i4)(i8)(i4k+4)br b_{i+3}=i(i-4)(i-8) \cdot \ldots \cdot(i-4 k+4) b_{r}
where i+3=4k+r,0r<4i+3=4 k+r, 0 \leqslant r<4. Then the numbers aia_{i} are found from the congruences bi1aibib_{i-1} a_{i} \equiv b_{i} (modp)(\bmod p), and choosing pp so that aia_{i} are not congruent modulo pp is done in a way very similar to the above solution.

This page is intentionally left blank

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.