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Mathematica competitions in Croatia

Croatia number theory

Problem

Find all positive integers such that for some positive integers .
Solution
Without loss of generality, assume .

If , then is divisible by , and and are also divisible by for . Thus, is divisible by , but for , is divisible by and higher powers of .

Let us check small values of :

If : But , so . , which is not a power of .

If : Try : So is a solution with (and permutations).

Try : : No other powers of .

If : , : So is a solution with (and permutations).

: : : : : No other powers of .

If : : : : : : : So is a solution with (and permutations).

: : : :

If : : : : : : : : So is a solution with (and permutations).

: : : : : : : :

For , is divisible by , and is much smaller than , so cannot be a power of .

Therefore, the possible values of are .
Final answer
[2, 3, 5, 7]

Techniques

Factorization techniquesTechniques: modulo, size analysis, order analysis, inequalities