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Algebra Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Find the answer

For an integer nn, let f9(n)f_{9}(n) denote the number of positive integers d9d \leq 9 dividing nn. Suppose that mm is a positive integer and b1,b2,,bmb_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{m} are real numbers such that f9(n)=j=1mbjf9(nj)f_{9}(n)=\sum_{j=1}^{m} b_{j} f_{9}(n-j) for all n>mn>m. Find the smallest possible value of mm.

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Solution

Let M=9M=9. Consider the generating function F(x)=n1fM(n)xn=d=1Mk1xdk=d=1Mxd1xdF(x)=\sum_{n \geq 1} f_{M}(n) x^{n}=\sum_{d=1}^{M} \sum_{k \geq 1} x^{d k}=\sum_{d=1}^{M} \frac{x^{d}}{1-x^{d}} Observe that fM(n)=fM(n+Mf_{M}(n)=f_{M}\left(n+M\right. !) for all n1n \geq 1 (in fact, all n0n \leq 0 as well). Thus fM(n)f_{M}(n) satisfies a degree mm linear recurrence if and only if it eventually satisfies a degree mm linear recurrence. But the latter occurs if and only if P(x)F(x)P(x) F(x) is a polynomial for some degree mm polynomial P(x)P(x). Suppose P(x)F(x)=Q(x)P(x) F(x)=Q(x) is a polynomial for some polynomial PP of degree mm. We show that xs1x^{s}-1 \mid P(x)P(x) for s=1,2,,Ms=1,2, \ldots, M, or equivalently that P(ω)=0P(\omega)=0 for all primitive ss th roots of unity 1sM)1 \leq s \leq M). Fix a primitive ss th root of unity ω\omega, and define a function Fω(z)=(1ω1z)sdMzd1zd+sdMzd1+(ω1z)++(ω1z)d1F_{\omega}(z)=\left(1-\omega^{-1} z\right) \sum_{s \nmid d \leq M} \frac{z^{d}}{1-z^{d}}+\sum_{s \mid d \leq M} \frac{z^{d}}{1+\left(\omega^{-1} z\right)+\cdots+\left(\omega^{-1} z\right)^{d-1}} for all zz where all denominators are nonzero (in particular, this includes z=ωz=\omega ). Yet Fω(z)F(z)(1ω1z)=0F_{\omega}(z)-F(z)\left(1-\omega^{-1} z\right)=0 for all complex zz such that z1,z2,,zM1z^{1}, z^{2}, \ldots, z^{M} \neq 1, so P(z)Fω(z)Q(z)(1P(z) F_{\omega}(z)-Q(z)(1- ω1z)=0\left.\omega^{-1} z\right)=0 holds for all such zz as well. In particular, the rational function P(x)Fω(x)Q(x)(1ω1x)P(x) F_{\omega}(x)-Q(x)\left(1-\omega^{-1} x\right) has infinitely many roots, so must be identically zero once we clear denominators. But no denominator vanishes at x=ωx=\omega, so we may plug in x=ωx=\omega to the polynomial identity and then divide out by the original (nonzero) denominators to get 0=P(ω)Fω(ω)Q(ω)(1ω1ω)=P(ω)Fω(ω)0=P(\omega) F_{\omega}(\omega)-Q(\omega)\left(1-\omega^{-1} \omega\right)=P(\omega) F_{\omega}(\omega). However, Fω(ω)=sdMωd1+(ω1ω)++(ω1ω)d1=sdM1dF_{\omega}(\omega)=\sum_{s \mid d \leq M} \frac{\omega^{d}}{1+\left(\omega^{-1} \omega\right)+\cdots+\left(\omega^{-1} \omega\right)^{d-1}}=\sum_{s \mid d \leq M} \frac{1}{d} is a positive integer multiple of 1/d1 / d, and therefore nonzero. Thus P(ω)=0P(\omega)=0, as desired. Conversely, if xs1P(x)x^{s}-1 \mid P(x) for s=1,2,,Ms=1,2, \ldots, M, then P(x)P(x) will clearly suffice. So we just want the degree of the least common multiple of the xs1x^{s}-1 for s=1,2,,Ms=1,2, \ldots, M, or just the number of roots of unity of order at most MM, which is s=1Mϕ(s)=1+1+2+2+4+2+6+4+6=28\sum_{s=1}^{M} \phi(s)=1+1+2+2+4+2+6+4+6=28.

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