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Ireland

Ireland algebra

Problem

The integers are defined as follows: Find all integers for which and share a common factor greater than 1.
Solution
Define for and any integer . We have to find all for which . By definition, for we have , hence and so, using induction and substituting , Hence, and are not coprime iff , and this is equivalent to .
Final answer
n ≡ 3 (mod 5)

Techniques

Recurrence relationsGreatest common divisors (gcd)