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Austria 2013 number theory
Problem
Prove that if holds for some non-negative integer values of , , and , must hold.
Solution
Since the left side of the equation is certainly larger than 1, we first note that must certainly hold.
Now, we consider even values of . Since and are certainly true, we have . If , is odd for any odd and divisible by 4 for any even , and it follows that must hold, as claimed.
Next, we consider odd values of . In this case we have and , and we see that the factor 2 is contained in exactly times.
For we obtain , and the same argument holds as for even values of .
For , the exponent must be a divisor of the exponent of 2 in the prime decomposition of , and therefore a power of 2. This means that is an -th power, this must also be the case for , and this number must certainly be a perfect square. This is not possible, however, since we have established that this number is , and therefore certainly not a perfect square. This case is therefore not possible, and we see that must hold, as claimed.
Now, we consider even values of . Since and are certainly true, we have . If , is odd for any odd and divisible by 4 for any even , and it follows that must hold, as claimed.
Next, we consider odd values of . In this case we have and , and we see that the factor 2 is contained in exactly times.
For we obtain , and the same argument holds as for even values of .
For , the exponent must be a divisor of the exponent of 2 in the prime decomposition of , and therefore a power of 2. This means that is an -th power, this must also be the case for , and this number must certainly be a perfect square. This is not possible, however, since we have established that this number is , and therefore certainly not a perfect square. This case is therefore not possible, and we see that must hold, as claimed.
Final answer
m = 1
Techniques
Techniques: modulo, size analysis, order analysis, inequalitiesFactorization techniquesPolynomials mod p