Skip to main content
OlympiadHQ

Browse · MathNet

Print

Estonian Mathematical Olympiad

Estonia number theory

Problem

Let be a positive integer and one of its positive divisors. Integers to are written in columns of length (the first column contains the numbers to , starting from the top, the second column contains the numbers to etc.). Then, one finds the greatest common divisor of each row and finally the least common multiple of the greatest common divisors. Prove that if , then the final result is equal to .
Solution
The first two numbers of the -th row are and . Denote the greatest common divisor of this row by ; since divides both and , it must also divide their difference . Thus all the greatest common divisors divide , meaning their least common multiple is at most . But as the final row is with the greatest common divisor , the least common multiple of the greatest common divisors is exactly .

Techniques

Greatest common divisors (gcd)Least common multiples (lcm)