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Printjmc
number theory senior
Problem
Find the number of positive integers such that is a perfect square.
Solution
Since , and is square-free, we must have , so . Say . Then is a square, and conversely, if is a square, then is a square. Thus we are counting the number of positive squares such that or . The largest such square is , so the possible values of are for , giving possible values of (and hence 8 possible values for ).
Final answer
8