Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / China Team Selection Test /64 of 92

China Team Selection Test

Number theory Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Find the answer

Let SS be a set of positive integers, such that n∈Sn \in S if and only if ∑d∣n,d<n,d∈Sd≤n\sum_{d|n,d<n,d \in S} d \le n
Find all positive integers n=2k⋅pn=2^k \cdot p where kk is a non-negative integer and pp is an odd prime, such that ∑d∣n,d<n,d∈Sd=n\sum_{d|n,d<n,d \in S} d = n

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Let S S be a set of positive integers such that n∈S n \in S if and only if
∑d∣n,d<n,d∈Sd≤n. \sum_{d \mid n, d < n, d \in S} d \leq n.
We need to find all positive integers n=2k⋅p n = 2^k \cdot p where k k is a non-negative integer and p p is an odd prime, such that
∑d∣n,d<n,d∈Sd=n. \sum_{d \mid n, d < n, d \in S} d = n.

Define the function
f(n)=(∑d∣n,d<n,d∈Sd)−n. f(n) = \left( \sum_{d \mid n, d < n, d \in S} d \right) - n.
The given condition translates to n∈S⇔f(n)≤0 n \in S \Leftrightarrow f(n) \leq 0 . Additionally, we have f(n)≤σ(n)−2n f(n) \leq \sigma(n) - 2n , where σ(n) \sigma(n) denotes the sum of all positive divisors of n n .

First, consider the powers of 2. For any m≥0 m \geq 0 ,
f(2m)≤σ(2m)−2m+1=−1, f(2^m) \leq \sigma(2^m) - 2^{m+1} = -1,
which implies 2m∈S 2^m \in S .

Next, observe that 1∈S 1 \in S and for any odd prime p p ,
f(p)=1−2p<0, f(p) = 1 - 2p < 0,
thus p∈S p \in S .

Now, let a=⌊log⁡2(p+1)⌋−1 a = \lfloor \log_2(p+1) \rfloor - 1 . We claim that for r∈N r \in \mathbb{N} , 2rp∉S 2^r p \notin S if and only if a+1∣r a+1 \mid r .

Proof of Claim:

Write r=x(a+1)−y r = x(a+1) - y where 0≤y≤a 0 \leq y \leq a and x∈N x \in \mathbb{N} . We proceed by induction on x≥1 x \geq 1 .

Base Case:

For x=1 x = 1 and y>0 y > 0 , we have r≤a r \leq a . Then,
f(2rp)≤σ(2rp)−2r+1p=2r+1−p−1≤2a+1−(p+1)≤0, f(2^r p) \leq \sigma(2^r p) - 2^{r+1} p = 2^{r+1} - p - 1 \leq 2^{a+1} - (p + 1) \leq 0,
so 2rp∈S 2^r p \in S for r≤a r \leq a .

For x=1 x = 1 and y=0 y = 0 ,
f(2rp)=f(2a+1p)=σ(2a+1p)−2a+2p=2a+2−(p+1)>0, f(2^r p) = f(2^{a+1} p) = \sigma(2^{a+1} p) - 2^{a+2} p = 2^{a+2} - (p + 1) > 0,
which means 2a+1p∉S 2^{a+1} p \notin S . This proves the base case.

Inductive Step:

Suppose the result is true for some x x . Let r=(x+1)(a+1)−y r = (x+1)(a+1) - y . If y>0 y > 0 , then r≤(x+1)(a+1)−1 r \leq (x+1)(a+1) - 1 . Using the inductive hypothesis,
f(2rp)≤σ(2rp)−2r+1p−(2a+1p+22(a+1)p+⋯+2x(a+1)p)=2r+1−1−p−2a+1(2x(a+1)−1)p2a+1−1≤(2(x+1)(a+1)−1)−(2(x+1)(a+1)−1)p2a+1−1=(2(x+1)(a+1)−1)(1−p2a+1−1)≤0, \begin{align*} f(2^r p) &\leq \sigma(2^r p) - 2^{r+1} p - \left( 2^{a+1} p + 2^{2(a+1)} p + \dots + 2^{x(a+1)} p \right) \\ &= 2^{r+1} - 1 - p - \frac{2^{a+1} (2^{x(a+1)} - 1) p}{2^{a+1} - 1} \\ &\leq (2^{(x+1)(a+1)} - 1) - \frac{(2^{(x+1)(a+1)} - 1) p}{2^{a+1} - 1} \\ &= (2^{(x+1)(a+1)} - 1) \left( 1 - \frac{p}{2^{a+1} - 1} \right) \leq 0, \end{align*}
so 2rp∈S 2^r p \in S when y>0 y > 0 .

If y=0 y = 0 , then
f(2rp)=σ(2rp)−2r+1p−(2a+1p+22(a+1)p+⋯+2x(a+1)p)=2r+1−1−p−2a+1(2x(a+1)−1)p2a+1−1=(2r+1−1)−(2(x+1)(a+1)−1)p2a+1−1≥(2(x+1)(a+1)+1−1)−2(2(x+1)(a+1)−1)=1, \begin{align*} f(2^r p) &= \sigma(2^r p) - 2^{r+1} p - \left( 2^{a+1} p + 2^{2(a+1)} p + \dots + 2^{x(a+1)} p \right) \\ &= 2^{r+1} - 1 - p - \frac{2^{a+1} (2^{x(a+1)} - 1) p}{2^{a+1} - 1} \\ &= (2^{r+1} - 1) - \frac{(2^{(x+1)(a+1)} - 1) p}{2^{a+1} - 1} \\ &\geq (2^{(x+1)(a+1) + 1} - 1) - 2(2^{(x+1)(a+1)} - 1) = 1, \end{align*}
thus 2(x+1)(a+1)p∉S 2^{(x+1)(a+1)} p \notin S , completing the induction step.

Conclusion:

The problem asks us to find all k k and p p such that f(2kp)=0 f(2^k p) = 0 . This implies equality must hold at all ≤ \leq signs in the proof of the lemma above. The last equality holds only if p=2a+1−1 p = 2^{a+1} - 1 . Also, the second equality holds when y=1 y = 1 , i.e., r+1=x(a+1) r + 1 = x(a+1) for some positive integer x x .

Therefore, all solutions are of the form k=x(a+1)−1 k = x(a+1) - 1 and p=2a+1−1 p = 2^{a+1} - 1 for a,x∈N a, x \in \mathbb{N} .

The answer is: k\boxed{k} = x(a+1) - 1 \text{} and } p = 2a+12^{a+1} - 1 \text{} for } a, x ∈N.{\in \mathbb{N}}.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.