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Croatian Junior Mathematical Olympiad

Croatia number theory

Problem

Let and be positive integers of different parity. Prove that is not a positive integer. (Ilko Brnetić)
Solution
Let be the greatest common divisor of and , i.e. and , where and are relatively prime positive integers of different parity. Now we need to prove that is not a positive integer. Note that and are both odd. If is odd and is even, the even clearly cannot divide the odd . Otherwise, let the odd be the greatest common divisor of and . Then we have from which it follows that divides both and , so and both factors in are irreducible fractions. Since , the proof is finished.

Techniques

Greatest common divisors (gcd)Integers