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Number Theory Handout: January 3, 2008

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Number Theory Handout

January 3, 2008

Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic: Every n ≥ 0 Can be expressed in a


unique way as
Y
pai i = n With pi prime and ai ≥ 0.
1≤(i)≤(k)

Fermat’s little Theorem: For p prime and (a, p) = 1, ap−1 = 1 (mod p)


Wilson’s Theorem: (p − 1)! = −1 (mod p)

The above are also in the notes by Naoki Sato.

1: a)Prove that for all natural numbers n, 2n + 1 and 3n + 1 are relatively prime.
b) Prove that kn + 1 and (k + 1)n + 1 are relatively prime, where k is a natural number.

2: Let a, b be two relatively prime positive integers. Prove every integer greated than
ab − a − b can be expressed as ax + by for whole numbers x, y. Can you generalize this
to n variables?

3: Prove that for p an odd prime such that p = 1 (mod 4), We must have
((p − 1)/2)! = −1 (mod p)
Hint: Use Wilson’s theorem.

3: Prove that for all whole numbers m, n,


m3 + mn3 + n2 + 3 cannot divide m2 + n3 + 3n − 1

4: Prove that a2 + b2 + c2 = 2012 has no solutions in positive integers.

5: Prove n4 + 4m4 isn’t prime for m, n > 1.

6: Let n be a positive integer relatively prime to 6. Prove that


2−1 + 3−1 + 6−1 = 1 (mod n) Where x−1 denotes the multiplicative inverse of x modulo
n.

1
7 : Let r(n) be the sum of the remainders when n is divided by 1, 2, 3, ..n. Prove that
for infinitely many positive integers k, we have r(k) = r(k − 1).

2
n
8 : For each positive integer n, let g(n) be the numerator of φ(n) , and f (n) = φ(g(n))n +1
.
For each n, find f (f (f (...f (n)...))) where there are n iterations of f .
HINT: This is not as terrible as it looks.

9 : Find all natural numbers n such that n divides 2n − 1

10 : Find all integer a such that a4 + 4a is prime.

11 : Find all integer solutions to x91 + x92 + ... + x98 = 2005.

12 : Prove that every positive integer can be written as x2 +y 2 −5z 2 with x, y, z integers.

13 : Let P (x) be a polynomial with integer coefficients. n is an integer, and define ai


recursively by a0 = n, ai = P (ai−1 ). Prove that if ak = n for some positive integer k,
then a2 = n.

2 2
14: (APMO 1994) Find
√ all n such that n can be written as n = a + b such that every
prime not exceeding n divides ab.

15: Prove that for any n > 1, there is a power of 10 with n digits either in base 2 or in
base 5, but not in both.

16: Given a set S of 100 positive integers ,prove that there are 11 numbers ai in S such
that EITHER a1 divides a2 divides a3 ..., OR none of the ai divide each other. Must
there be at least 2 distinct, but not necessarily disjoint such sets?

17: Let a1 , a2 , ...an+1 be a sequence of positive integers with a1 = an+1 . Prove that
Q
1≤i≤n (ai + 2ai+1 ) is not a power of 2.

The following problems are designed to get you more comfortable working
modulo primes

18: Let p be an odd prime. Prove that exactly half of the numbers 1, 2, .., p − 1 are
quadratic residue modulo p.

19: Prove that if x is a quadratic non-residue modulo a prime p, and S a set exhausting
all quadratic residues, then the set xS, which consists of the elements xs with s ∈ S

2
exhausts the set of quadratic non-residues modulo p.

20: Let p be an odd prime. Prove that there exists an x such that x2 + 1 is not a square
modulo p.

21: p is a prime. Prove that every number n can be written as x2 + y 2 modulo p.

22:(IMO 2003, problem 6) Prove that for each prime p, there is a prime q such that
np − p is not divisible by q for any integer n, by first solving the following 2 problems.

23: Let N = 1 + p + p2 + .. + pp−1 . Prove that N has a prime factor q which is not
equal to 1 (mod p2 )

24 Prove that q does not divide p − 1.

Now show that this q solves problem 22

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