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PrintMongolian Mathematical Olympiad
Mongolia number theory
Problem
Let be an arithmetic progression with integer terms. Find all polynomials with integer coefficients such that is a whole number for any natural .
Solution
Let . Then for any natural number the congruence holds. Therefore from follows . Let's choose such that . Then we have and , and it implies . If then there exist infinitely many with property (*). This contradicts given condition that the fraction is integer and above proved implication. So constant. Since there exists such that , we can write . Thus starting from a number inequality always holds. In case all odd then . In other cases .
Final answer
Exactly the constant polynomials P(x) = ±1 for any arithmetic progression; and if every term of the progression is odd, also P(x) = ±2.
Techniques
Inverses mod nFermat / Euler / Wilson theoremsGreatest common divisors (gcd)Polynomial operations