RMO Handout : Number Theory

Devansh Kumar Tripathi

October 2024

1 Problems
P1) Determine all ordered pairs (a, p) of positive integers, with p prime, such
that pa + a4 is a perfect square.
P2) Let a1 < a2 < a3 < . . . be positive integers such that ak+1 divides 2(a1 +
a2 + . . . + ak ) for every k1. Suppose that for infinitely many primes p, there
exists k such that p divides ak . Prove that for every positive integer n, there
exists k such that n divides ak .
P3) Determine the integers x such that 2x + x2 + 25 is the cube of a prime
number.
P4) Find the least possible value for the fraction

lcm(a, b) + lcm(b, c) + lcm(c, a)

gcd(a, b) + gcd(b, c) + gcd(c, a)

over all distinct positive integers a, b, c.

P5) For a positive integer n write down all its positive divisors in increasing
order: 1 = d1 < d2 < . . . < dk = n. Find all positive integers n divisible by
2019 such that n = d19 · d20 .
P6) Let a and b be positive integers such that 2a2 + a = 3b2 + b. Prove that
a − b is a perfect square.
P7) Do there exist a sequence a1 , a2 , . . . , an , . . . of positive integers such that
for any positive integers i, j:

d(ai + aj ) = i + j?

Here d(n) is the number of positive divisors of a positive integer.

P8) For all pairs (m, n) of positive integers that have the same number k of
divisors we define the operation ◦. Write all their divisors in an ascending order:
1 = m1 < . . . < mk = m, 1 = n1 < . . . < nk = n and set

m ◦ n = m1 · n1 + . . . + mk · nk .

Find all pairs of numbers (m, n), mn, such thatqm ◦ n = 497.
xk
P9) x1 = 21 and xk+1 = x2 +...+x 2 . Prove that x4k + 4 xxk−1
k+1
is rational.
1 k

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P10) Prove that for infinitely many k we have Φ(2k + 1) < 2k−1 and that for
infinitely many m one has Φ(2m + 1) > 2m−1 .
P11) Let Fn denote the n-th Fibonacci number. Prove that 32023 divides

32 · F4 + 33 · F6 + 34 · F8 + . . . + 32023 F4046 .

P12) Find all primes p and all positive integers a and m such that a ≤ 5p2 and
(p − 1)! + a = pm .
P13) Find all triples (m, p, q) such that

2m p2 + 1 = q 7 ,

where p and q are primes and m is a positive integer.

P14) Find an integral solution of the equation
jxk jxk jxk j x k
+ + + ... + = 2019.
1! 2! 3! 10!

P15) Let n be a positive integer. Prove that there exists a poisitve integer m
such that
7n | 3m + 5m − 1
.
P16) Let m and n be relatively prime positive integers. Determine all possible
values of 2 2
gcd(2m − 2n , 2m +mn+n − 1).

P17) Let (Fn ) be the sequence defined recursively by F1 = F2 = 1 and Fn+1 =

Fn + Fn−1 for n ≥ 2. Find all pairs of positive integers (x, y) such that

5Fx − 3Fy = 1.

P18) Let x1 , x2 , . . . , xn be n positive integers. Prove that x21 + x22 + . . . +

x2n = kx1 x2 . . . xn has no solutions, where k > n is an integer. (HINT :- Vieta
Jumping)
P19) Distinct positive integers a, b, c, d satisfy

{ a | b2 + c2 + d2 , b | a2 + c2 + d2 , c | a2 + b2 + d2 , d | a2 + b2 + c2 ,

and none of them is larger than the product of the three others. What is the
largest possible number of primes among them? (HINT - See P18)
P20) Prove that for any positive integer m there exist an infinite number of
pairs of integers (x, y) such that (i) x and y are relatively prime; (ii) x divides
y 2 + m; (iii) y divides x2 + m.
P21) Determine all the pairs (a, b) of positive integers, such that all the follow-
ing three conditions are satisfied: (1) b > a and b − a is a prime number. (2)

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The last digit of the number a + b is 3. (3) The number ab is a square of an
integer.
P22) Define m(n) to be the greatest proper natural divisor of n ∈ N. Find all
n ∈ N such that n + m(n) is a power of 10.
P23) An integer n ≥ 2 having exactly s positive divisors 1 = d1 < d2 < · · · <
ds = n is said to be good if there exists an integer k, with 2 ≤ k ≤ s, such that
dk > 1 + d1 + · · · + dk−1 . An integer n ≥ 2 is said to be bad if it is not good. (a)
Show that there are infinitely many bad integers. (b) Prove that, among any
seven consecutive integers all greater than 2, there are always at least four good
integers. (c) Show that there are infinitely many sequences of seven consecutive
good integers.
P24) n > 1 and distinct positive integers a1 , a2 , . . . , an+1 are given. Does
there exist a polynomial p(x) ∈ Z[x] of degree ≤ n that satisfies the follow-
ing conditions? (a.) ∀1≤i<j≤n+1 : gcd(p(ai ), p(aj )) > 1 (b.) ∀1≤i<j<k≤n+1 :
gcd(p(ai ), p(aj ), p(ak )) = 1. (HINT - Lagrange’s Interpolation Method)
P25) Let k be an integer, and a, b be real numbers. prove that a − b is an
integer divisible by k if and only if for every positive integer n
⌊an⌋ ≡ ⌊bn⌋ (mod k).

P26) Let n be a positive integer. Prove that

n n
52 −1 32 −1
3 2n+2 ≡ (−5) 2n+2 (mod 2n+4 ).

P27) Find all pairs of positive prime numbers (p, q) such that
p5 + p3 + 2 = q 2 − q.

P28) Let p be an odd prime number. (a) Show that p divides n2n + 1 for
infinitely many positive integers n. (b) Find all n satisfy condition above when
p = 3.
P29) Determine all integer n > 1 such that
 
n−m
gcd n, =1
gcd(n, m)
for all integer 1 ≤ m < n.
P30) Find all positive integers p, q, r, s > 1 such that
p! + q! + r! = 2s .

2 Sources and Instructions

The problems are taken from several olympiads from Hong Kong, Italy, Iran,
ICMC, Costa Rica, Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan, Chile, etc.
Also, the ordering of problems has nothing to do with difficulty.
-THANK-YOU