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Number theory Difficulty 7.0 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Find all integers n3n \geq 3 such that the following property holds: if we list the divisors of n !n ! in increasing order as 1=d1<d2<<dk=n!1=d_1<d_2<\cdots<d_k=n! , then we have d2d1d3d2dkdk1.d_2-d_1 \leq d_3-d_2 \leq \cdots \leq d_k-d_{k-1} .
Contents 1 Solution (Explanation of Video) 2 Solution 2 3 Video Solution 4

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Solution

We claim only n=3n = 3 and n=4n = 4 are the only two solutions. First, it is clear that both solutions work.
Next, we claim that n<5n < 5 . For n5n \geq 5 , let xx be the smallest xx such that x+1x+1 is not a factor of n!n! . Let the smallest factor larger than xx be x+kx+k .
Now we consider n!x1\frac{n!}{x-1} , n!x\frac{n!}{x} and n!x+k\frac{n!}{x+k} . Since n!x1>n!x>n!x+k\frac{n!}{x-1} > \frac{n!}{x} > \frac{n!}{x+k} , if nn were to satisfy the conditions, then n!x1n!xn!xn!x+k\frac{n!}{x-1}-\frac{n!}{x} \geq \frac{n!}{x} - \frac{n!}{x+k} . However, note that this is not true for x5x \geq 5 and k>1k > 1 .
Note that the inequality is equivalent to showing 1x(x1)kx(x+k)\frac{1}{x(x-1)} \geq \frac{k}{x(x+k)} , which simplifies to x+kkxkx+k \geq kx-k , or xx2k2\frac{x}{x-2} \geq k \geq 2 . This implies x2x4x \geq 2x-4 , x4x \leq 4 , a contradiction, since the set of numbers {1,2,3,4,5}\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5\} are all factors of n!n! , and the value of xx must exist. Hence, no solutions for n5n \geq 5 .

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