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Algebra Difficulty 7.7 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Determine which positive integers nn have the following property: For all integers mm that are relatively prime to nn, there exists a permutation π ⁣:{1,2,,n}{1,2,,n}\pi\colon \{1,2,\dots,n\} \to \{1,2,\dots,n\} such that π(π(k))mk(modn)\pi(\pi(k)) \equiv mk \pmod{n} for all k{1,2,,n}k \in \{1,2,\dots,n\}.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

The desired property holds if and only if n=1n = 1 or n2(mod4)n \equiv 2 \pmod{4}. Let σn,m\sigma_{n,m} be the permutation of \ZZ/n\ZZ\ZZ/n\ZZ induced by multiplication by mm; the original problem asks for which nn does σn,m\sigma_{n,m} always have a square root. For n=1n=1, σn,m\sigma_{n,m} is the identity permutation and hence has a square root. We next identify when a general permutation admits a square root. \begin{lemma} \label{lem:2023B5-2} A permutation σ\sigma in SnS_n can be written as the square of another permutation if and only if for every even positive integer mm, the number of cycles of length mm in σ\sigma is even. \end{lemma} \begin{proof} We first check the "only if" direction. Suppose that σ=τ2\sigma = \tau^2. Then every cycle of τ\tau of length mm remains a cycle in σ\sigma if mm is odd, and splits into two cycles of length m/2m/2 if mm is even. We next check the "if" direction. We may partition the cycles of σ\sigma into individual cycles of odd length and pairs of cycles of the same even length; then we may argue as above to write each partition as the square of another permutation. \end{proof} Suppose now that n>1n>1 is odd. Write n=pekn = p^e k where pp is an odd prime, kk is a positive integer, and gcd(p,k)=1\gcd(p,k) = 1. By the Chinese remainder theorem, we have a ring isomorphism \ZZ/n\ZZ\ZZ/pe\ZZ×\ZZ/k\ZZ. \ZZ/n\ZZ \cong \ZZ/p^e \ZZ \times \ZZ/k \ZZ. Recall that the group (\ZZ/pe\ZZ)×(\ZZ/p^e \ZZ)^\times is cyclic; choose m\ZZm \in \ZZ reducing to a generator of (\ZZ/pe\ZZ)×(\ZZ/p^e \ZZ)^\times and to the identity in (\ZZ/k\ZZ)×(\ZZ/k\ZZ)^\times. Then σn,m\sigma_{n,m} consists of kk cycles (an odd number) of length pe1(p1)p^{e-1}(p-1) (an even number) plus some shorter cycles. By Lemma~\ref{lem:2023B5-2}, σn,m\sigma_{n,m} does not have a square root. Suppose next that n2(mod4)n \equiv 2 \pmod{4}. Write n=2kn = 2k with kk odd, so that \ZZ/n\ZZ\ZZ/2\ZZ×\ZZ/k\ZZ. \ZZ/n\ZZ \cong \ZZ/2\ZZ \times \ZZ/k\ZZ. Then σn,m\sigma_{n,m} acts on {0}×\ZZ/k\ZZ\{0\} \times \ZZ/k\ZZ and {1}×\ZZ/k\ZZ\{1\} \times \ZZ/k\ZZ with the same cycle structure, so every cycle length occurs an even number of times. By Lemma~\ref{lem:2023B5-2}, σn,m\sigma_{n,m} has a square root. Finally, suppose that nn is divisible by 4. For m=1m = -1, σn,m\sigma_{n,m} consists of two fixed points (00 and n/2n/2) together with n/21n/2-1 cycles (an odd number) of length 2 (an even number). By Lemma~\ref{lem:2023B5-2}, σn,m\sigma_{n,m} does not have a square root.

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