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\ue018
Number Theory
Naoki Sato<sato@artofproblemsolving.com>
0 Preface

This set of notes on number theory was originally written in 1995 for students at the IMO level. It covers the basic background material that an IMO student should be familiar with. This text is meant to be a reference, and not a replacement but rather a supplement to a number theory textbook; several are given at the back. Proofs are given when appropriate, or when they illustrate some insight or important idea. The problems are culled from various sources, many from actual contests and olympiads, and in general are very di\ufb03cult. The author welcomes any corrections or suggestions.

1 Divisibility
For integersa andb, we say thatadivides b, or thata is adivisor (or
factor) ofb, or thatb is a multipleofa, if there exists an integerc such
thatb =ca, and we denote this bya| b. Otherwise,a does not divideb, and
we denote this bya\ue000 b. A positive integerp is aprime if the only divisors of
pare 1 and p. If pk| aand pk+1\ue000 awhere pis a prime, i.e. pkis the highest
power ofp dividinga, then we denote this bypk\ue006a.
Useful Facts
\u2022Ifa,b > 0, anda |b, then a \u2264b.
\u2022Ifa |b1, a |b2, ..., a |bn, then for any integers c1, c2, ..., cn,
a|n
i=1
bici.
Theorem 1.1.The Division Algorithm. For any positive integera and
integerb, there exist unique integersq andr such thatb =qa +r and
0\u2264r < a, withr = 0 i\ufb00a| b.
1
Theorem 1.2.The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic. Every integer
greater than 1 can be written uniquely in the form
pe1
1pe2
2\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7pek
k,
where thepi are distinct primes and theei are positive integers.
Theorem 1.3. (Euclid) There exist an in\ufb01nite number of primes.
Proof. Suppose that there are a \ufb01nite number of primes, sayp1,p2, . . . ,
pn. Let N= p1 p2\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 pn+ 1. By the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, N

is divisible by some primep. This primep must be among thepi, since by assumption these are all the primes, butN is seen not to be divisible by any of thepi, contradiction.

Example 1.1. Letx andy be integers. Prove that 2x + 3y is divisible
by 17 i\ufb00 9x +5y is divisible by 17.
Solution. 17| (2x + 3y)\u21d2 17| [13(2x + 3y)], or 17| (26x + 39y)\u21d2
17| (9x + 5y), and conversely, 17| (9x + 5y)\u21d2 17| [4(9x + 5y)], or
17| (36x + 20y)\u21d2 17| (2x + 3y).
Example 1.2. Find all positive integersd such thatd divides bothn2 +1
and (n + 1)2 + 1 for some integern.
Solution. Letd| (n2 + 1) andd| [(n + 1)2 + 1], ord| (n2 + 2n + 2).
Thend| [(n2 + 2n + 2)\u2212 (n2 + 1)], ord| (2n + 1)\u21d2d | (4n2 + 4n + 1), so
d|[4(n2+2n+2)\u2212(4n2+4n+1)], or d|(4n+7). Then d|[(4n+7)\u22122(2n+1)],
ord| 5, sod can only be 1 or 5. Takingn = 2 shows that both of these
values are achieved.
Example 1.3. Suppose thata1,a2, . . . ,a2n are distinct integers such
that the equation
(x\u2212 a1)(x\u2212 a2)\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 (x\u2212 a2n)\u2212 (\u22121)n(n!)2 = 0
has an integer solutionr. Show that
r=a1+ a2+\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 + a2n
2n
.
(1984 IMO Short List)
Solution. Clearly,r\ue001=ai for alli, and ther\u2212 ai are 2n distinct integers,
so|(r \u2212a1)(r \u2212a2) \u00b7\u00b7\u00b7(r \u2212a2n)| \u2265|(1)(2) \u00b7\u00b7\u00b7(n)(\u22121)(\u22122) \u00b7\u00b7\u00b7(\u2212n)|= (n!)2,
2
with equality i\ufb00
{r \u2212a1 ,r \u2212a2 ,...,r \u2212a2n}= {1, 2,...,n, \u22121, \u22122,..., \u2212n}.
Therefore, this must be the case, so
(r\u2212 a1 ) + (r\u2212 a2 ) +\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 + (r\u2212 a2n )
= 2nr\u2212 (a1 +a2 +\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 +a2n)
= 1 + 2 +\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 +n + (\u22121) + (\u22122) +\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 + (\u2212n) = 0
\u21d2r=a1+ a2+\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 + a2n
2n
.
Example 1.4. Let 0< a1 < a2 <\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7 < amn+1 bemn +1 integers. Prove
that you can select eitherm + 1 of them no one of which divides any other,
orn + 1 of them each dividing the following one.
(1966 Putnam Mathematical Competition)
Solution. For eachi, 1\u2264i \u2264mn + 1, letni be the length of the longest

sequence starting withai and each dividing the following one, among the integersai,ai+1, . . . ,amn+1. If someni is greater thann then the problem is solved. Otherwise, by the pigeonhole principle, there are at leastm + 1 values ofni that are equal. Then, the integersai corresponding to theseni cannot divide each other.

Useful Facts
\u2022Bertrand\u2019s Postulate. For every positive integern, there exists a prime
psuch that n\u2264 p\u22642n.
\u2022Gauss\u2019s Lemma. If a polynomial with integer coe\ufb03cients factors into
two polynomials with rational coe\ufb03cients, then it factors into two poly-
nomials with integer coe\ufb03cients.
Problems
1. Leta andb be positive integers such thata| b2,b2| a3,a3| b4,b4| a5,
....Prove thata =b.
2. Leta,b, andc denote three distinct integers, and letP denote a poly-
nomial having all integral coe\ufb03cients. Show that it is impossible that
P(a) = b, P(b) = c, and P(c) = a.
(1974 USAMO)
3
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