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Mongolian Mathematical Olympiad

Mongolia number theory

Problem

Find all natural numbers , that satisfy conditions: and .
Solution
Note that . By combining it with given condition we get . Since none of and equals to , greatest common divisor (GCD) of these numbers is not greater than . If then . Also if then . From here we deduce that , and Since symmetrical, we may assume . Considering the , we get either or

a. Let . By the given condition and , . It is obvious that there are no such numbers.

b. Let . By the given conditions and we conclude that any natural satisfies the conditions.

Thus is pair of successive natural numbers.
Final answer
All pairs of consecutive natural numbers, i.e., |n − m| = 1.

Techniques

Greatest common divisors (gcd)Techniques: modulo, size analysis, order analysis, inequalities