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Slovenija 2008

Slovenia 2008 number theory

Problem

Let be positive integers. Assume that for some positive integer , , the following is true: if we choose any of the given numbers their sum is divisible by . Prove that is also divisible by .
Solution
If , each of the numbers is divisible by , so also divides their sum.

Now, let and let . Since the set has elements, one can choose an arbitrary subset with elements. Then and are two -tuples of numbers and their sums are divisible by , so the difference of the two sums must also be divisible by . This difference is equal to , so divides . Here and were chosen arbitrarily, so give the same remainder when divided by , and there are of them, so their sum must be divisible by .

Techniques

Modular ArithmeticDivisibility / Factorization