Maths Olympiad Prep

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Problem 2013

National Olympiad, first round
Algebra Difficulty 6.9 Find the answer China Team Selection Test

Find all positive integer pairs (a,n)(a,n) such that (a+1)n−ann\frac{(a+1)^n-a^n}{n} is an integer.

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

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Official solution

We need to find all positive integer pairs (a,n)(a, n) such that (a+1)n−ann\frac{(a+1)^n - a^n}{n} is an integer.

First, observe that for (a+1)n−ann\frac{(a+1)^n - a^n}{n} to be an integer, (a+1)n−an(a+1)^n - a^n must be divisible by nn.

Consider the smallest prime divisor pp of nn. We have:
(a+1)n≡an(modp). (a+1)^n \equiv a^n \pmod{p}.
This implies:
(a+1a)n≡1(modp). \left(\frac{a+1}{a}\right)^n \equiv 1 \pmod{p}.
Let z≡a+1a(modp)z \equiv \frac{a+1}{a} \pmod{p}. Then:
zn≡1(modp). z^n \equiv 1 \pmod{p}.
By Fermat's Little Theorem, we know:
zp−1≡1(modp). z^{p-1} \equiv 1 \pmod{p}.
Since zn≡1(modp)z^n \equiv 1 \pmod{p}, it follows that:
zgcd⁡(n,p−1)≡1(modp). z^{\gcd(n, p-1)} \equiv 1 \pmod{p}.
Given that pp is the smallest prime divisor of nn, we have gcd⁡(n,p−1)=1\gcd(n, p-1) = 1. Therefore:
z≡1(modp). z \equiv 1 \pmod{p}.
This implies:
a+1a≡1(modp), \frac{a+1}{a} \equiv 1 \pmod{p},
which simplifies to:
a+1≡a(modp). a+1 \equiv a \pmod{p}.
Thus:
1≡0(modp), 1 \equiv 0 \pmod{p},
which is a contradiction unless n=1n = 1.

Therefore, the only solution is when n=1n = 1. In this case, (a+1)1−a11=1\frac{(a+1)^1 - a^1}{1} = 1, which is always an integer for any positive integer aa.

Hence, the solution is:
(a,n)=(a,1) \boxed{(a, n) = (a, 1)}
for any positive integer aa.

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