Past INMO Number Theory

December 8, 2022

1 Divisibility
• Induction can be used
• divisibility of 3,4,9 are greatly useful
• (x2 − y 2 ) is lifesaver factorisation.
• Factorisation
1. INMO 91)(i) Determine the set of all positive integers n for which 3n+1
n
divides 23 + 1;
n
(ii) Prove that 3n+2 does not divide 23 + 1 for any positive integer n. .
2. (INMO 92) Determine all pairs (m, n) of positive integers for which 2m +3n
is a perfect square.
3. (INMO 92) Find the remainder when 1992 is divided by 92.
4. (INMO )Find the number of positive integers n for which
(i) n ≤ 1991;
(ii) 6 is a factor of (n2 + 3n + 2).

1
 5. (INMO 98) Let p, q, r, s be four integers such that s is not divisible by 5.
If there is an integer a such that pa3 + qa2 + ra + s is divisible be 5, prove
that there is an integer b such that sb3 + rb2 + qb + p is also divisible by 5.
6. (INMO 98)It is desired to choose n integers from the collection of 2n
integers, namely, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, . . . , n−1, n−1 such that the average of these
n chosen integers is itself an integer and as minimum as possible. Show
that this can be done for each positive integer n and find this minimum
value f
7. (INMO 99)In a village 1998 persons volunteered to clean up, for a fair, a
rectangular field with integer sides and perimeter equal to 3996 feet. For
this purpose, the field was divided into 1998 equal parts. If each part had
an integer area, find the length and breadth of the field.
8. (INMO 2004 P2)p > 3 is a prime. Find all integers a, b, such that a2 +
3ab + 2p(a + b) + p2 = 0.
9. (INMO 2004) S is the set of all (a, b, c, d, e, f ) where a, b, c, d, e, f are
integers such that a2 + b2 + c2 + d2 + e2 = f 2 . Find the largest k which
divides abcdef for all members of S.
10. (INMO 2007) Let n be a natural number such that n = a2 + b2 + c2 for
some natural numbers a, b, c. Prove that

9n = (p1 a + q1 b + r1 c)2 + (p2 a + q2 b + r2 c)2 + (p3 a + q3 b + r3 c)2

where pj ’s , qj ’s , rj ’s are all nonzero integers. Further, if 3 does not

divide at least one of a, b, c, prove that 9n can be expressed in the form
x2 + y 2 + z 2 , where x, y, z are natural numbers none of which is divisible
by 3.
11. (INMO 2008) Find all triples (p, x, y) such that px = y 4 + 4, where p is a
prime and x and y are natural numbers.
12. (INMO 2010)Find all natural numbers n > 1 such that n2 does not divide
(n − 2)!.
13. (INMO 2011) Call a natural number n faithful if there exist natural num-
bers a < b < c such that a|b, and b|c and n = a + b + c.
(i) Show that all but a finite number of natural numbers are faithful. (ii)
Find the sum of all natural numbers which are not faithful.
14. (INMO 2012)Let p1 < p2 < p3 < p4 and q1 < q2 < q3 < q4 be two sets of
prime numbers, such that p4 − p1 = 8 and q4 − q1 = 8. Suppose p1 > 5
and q1 > 5. Prove that 30 divides p1 − q1 .
15. (INMO 2013)Find all m, n ∈ N and primes p ≥ 5 satisfying

m(4m2 + m + 12) = 3(pn − 1).

2
 16. (INMO 2017 P2) Suppose n ≥ 0 is an integer and all the roots of x3 +
αx + 4 − (2 × 2016n ) = 0 are integers. Find all possible values of α.
17. (INMO 2019)Let m, n be distinct positive integers. Prove that

gcd(m, n) + gcd(m + 1, n + 1) + gcd(m + 2, n + 2) ≤ 2|m − n| + 1.

Further, determine when equality holds.

Hints :
1. Induction
2. Can you prove m, n even . x2 − y 2 can be used.
3. Thanks to sir Euler

4. Let b be inverse of a (mod5). Multiply the equation by b3

5. Take cases n(mod4)
6. Easy sim eq

7. b(3a + 2p) + (a + p)2 = 0. Take cases on 3a + 2p

8. Find upper limit on k and take cases
9. 9(a2 + b2 + c2 ) = (2a + 2b − c)2 + (2b + 2c − a)2 + (2c + 2a − b)2 .
10. Sophie German

11. Take vp (n)

12. If n is faithful then what can be said about kn?
13. Note p > 2

14. odd primes are of form 10k + 1, 10k + 3, 10k + 7, 10k + 9.

15. Can you factorise the expresion for 3pn
16. Vieta’s theorem
17. Let k = m − n . Can we express LHS in terms of k?

3
2 GIF
• x = n + f and 0 ≤ f < 1
• Do not forget to check whether the values of f you got lies between [0, 1)

• [x] = n =⇒ n ≤ x < n + 1
1
• Condition on {x} for eg if 2 {x} is involve , take cases depending on f < 2
or f ≥ 12
• [x + m] = [x] + m if m is an integer.

• [x] + [y] ≤ [x + y] ≤ [x] + [y] + 1

(
[x] + [y] if {x} +{y} <1
• [x + y] =
[x] + [y] + 1 if {x} +{y} ≥1
+
• For n, a ∈
 nZ , the number of integers divisible by a, less than n will be
equal to a .
• Use estimation
√
• If b nc = k then , take n = k 2 + c

1. (INMO 89) Determine with proof, all the positive integers n for which:
(a) n
√ is not the square of any integer; and
(b)[ n]3 divides n2 . (Notation : [x] denotes the largest integer that is less
than or equal to x).:

2. (INMO 89) For positive integers n, define A(n) to be (2n)!

(n!)2 . Determine
the sets of positive integers n for which (a) A(n) is an even number, (b)
A(n) is a multiple of 4.
3. (INMO 90) Let f be a function defined on the set of non-negative integers
and taking values in the same set. Given that (a) x − f (x) = 19[x/19] −
90[f (x)/90] for all non-negative integers x;
(b) 1900 < f (1990) < 2000, find the possible values that f (1990) can take.
(Notation : here [z] refers to largest integer that is ≤ z, e.g. [3.1415] = 3).
4. (INMO 93)Show that there is a natural number n such that n! when
written in decimal notation ends exactly in 1993 zeros.

5.
2
6. (INMO 2009)Find all real numbers x such that: [x2 + 2x] = [x] + 2[x]
(Here [x] denotes the largest integer not exceeding x.)

4
 7. (INMO 2014)Let n be a natural number. Prove that,
jnk jnk j n k √ 
+ + ··· + + n
1 2 n
is even.
8. (INMO 2017) Find the number of triples (x, a, b) where x is a real number
and a, b belong to the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} such that x2 −a {x}+b = 0,
where {x} denotes the fractional part of the real number x.

Hints :
√
1. Let n = k 2 + c where 0 < c < 2k + 1. Then b nc = k.
2. v2 (A(n))
3. Substitution and trail and error method
jnk j n k j n k
4. Legendre’s function e5 (n) = + 2 + 3 + ...
5 5 5
  2
5. Given equation =⇒ x2 + 2x + 1 = [x] + 2 [x] + 1

n n n √

6. Let f (n) = 1 + 2 + ··· + n + b nc find f (n + 1) − f (n).

7. Express as a quadratic in [x] hence can we shortlist values of n ?

3 Diophantine equation
Some useful facts
• x2 ≡ 0, 1(mod 3) ≡ 0, 1(mod 4) ≡ 0, ±1(mod 5) ≡ 0, 1, 3, 4(mod 6) ≡
0, 1, 2, 4(mod 7) ≡ 0, 1, 4, (mod 8) ≡ 0, 1, 4, 7(mod 9)

• x3 ≡ 0, ±1(mod 3) ≡ 0, ±1(mod 4) ≡ 0, ±1, ±2(mod 5) ≡ 0, ±1±2, 3(mod 6) ≡

0, ±1(mod7) ≡ 0, ±1, ±3(mod 8) ≡ 0, ±1(mod 9)
• x4 ≡ 0, 1(mod 3) ≡ 0, 1(mod 4) ≡ 0, 1, (mod 5) ≡ 0, 1, 4(mod 6) ≡ 0, 1, 2, 4, (mod7) ≡
0, 1(mod 8) ≡ 0, 1, 4, 7(mod 9)
• x3 ≡ x (mod 6)

• x5 ≡ x (mod 5)

• x4 ≡ 1, 0(mod16).
• The Decomposition Method .
• Solving Diophantine Equations Using Inequalities

5
• The Parametric Method
• The Modular Arithmetic Method
• Discriminant method for Quadratic equations
• The Method of Mathematical Induction

• The Decomposition Method .

• Solving Diophantine Equations Using Inequalities
• The Parametric Method

• The Modular Arithmetic Method

• Discriminant method for Quadratic equations
• The Method of Mathematical Induction
• Fermat’s Method of Infinite Descent (FMID)

1. (INMO 90) Determine all non-negative integral pairs (x, y) for which (xy−
7)2 = x2 + y 2 .

2. (INMO 91)For any positive integer n , let s(n) denote the number of
1 1 1
ordered pairs (x, y) of positive integers for which + = . Determine
x y n
the set of positive integers for which s(n) = 5
3. (INMO 97) Show that there do not exist positive integers m and n such
that
m n+1
+ = 4.
n m
4. (INMO2003,P2)Find all primes p, q and even n > 2 such that pn + pn−1 +
... + 1 = q 2 + q + 1.

5. (INMO 2001)Show that the equation x2 + y 2 + z 2 = (x − y)(y − z)(z − x)

has infinitely many solutions in integers x, y, z.

6. (Extra) Find the smallest natural number k such that x31 + x32 + ... + x3k =
20022002 has solution for x1 , x2 · ··, xk ∈ N .

6
Hints :
1. Can we rearrange the equation such that the differnce between two perfect
squares is an integer?
2. Rearrange and use Factorisation trick
3. Rearrange and use Factorisation . Can we get an expression of type A2 =
BC and use (B, C) = 1 implies each is a perfect square ?

4. What if p = q ? what if p 6= q ? can we factorise both LHS and RHS.

5. Constructive solution .
6. Mod 9 is great help forever.

4 Progressions
1. (1987) Find a finite sequence of 16 numbers such that:
(a) it reads same from left to right as from right to left.
(b) the sum of any 7 consecutive terms is −1,
(c) the sum of any 11 consecutive terms is +1.

2. (INMO 1996) Define a sequence (an )n≥1 by a1 = 1 and a2 = 2 and

an+2 = 2an+1 − an + 2 for n ≥ 1. prove that for any m , am am+1 is also
a term in this sequence.
3. (INMO2002,P2)Do there exist distinct positive integers a, b, c such that
a, b, c, −a + b + c, a − b + c, a + b − c, a + b + c form an arithmetic
progression (in some order).
4. (INMO 2005Q5) Let x1 be a given positive integer. A sequence {xn }n≥1
of positive integers is such that xn , for n ≥ 2, is obtained from xn−1 by
adding some nonzero digit of xn−1 . Prove that
a) the sequence contains an even term;
b) the sequence contains infinitely many even terms.
5. (INMO 2009)Define a a sequence < an >∞ n=1 as follows
an = 0, if number of positive divisors of n is odd
an = 1, if number of positive divisors of n is even
(The positive divisors of n include 1 as well as n.)
Let x = 0.a1 a2 a3 ........ be the real number whose decimal expansion con-
tains an in the n-th place,n ≥ 1. Determine, with proof, whether x is
rational or irrational.

7
Hints :
1. Find all sets of identical terms.
2. Check the pattern
3. WLG let a < b < c then check possibilities
4. Method of contradiction .
LetE be the leftmost nonzero even digit in x1 which may be taken in the
form
x1 = O1 O2 · · · Ok ED1 D2 · · · Dm
where O1 O2 · · · Ok are odd digits or zero and D1 D2 · · · Dm are even or
odd and Dm is odd m ≥ 1 Can we create a term without a nonzero even
digit.
5. Finding expression for x is very easy . Real problem is proving it’s irra-
tional. Assume the contarary. If possible it’s rational, then find a contra-
diction using the fact that such sequence is recurring.

5 Combinatorial NT
• Induction
• PHP
• Bijection
• RR
• Modular arithmetic
• Parity
• Construction

1. (INMO 1988) Let m1 , m2 , m3 , . . . , mn be a rearrangement of the numbers

1, 2, . . . , n. Suppose that n is odd. Prove that the product

(m1 − 1) (m2 − 2) · · · (mn − n)

is an even integer.
2. (INMO 93) Let A = {1, 2, 3, . . . , 100} and B be a subset of A having 53
elements. Show that B has 2 distinct elements x and y whose sum is
divisible by11.
3. (INMO 1999)For which positive integer values of n can the set {1, 2, 3, 4, ..., 4n}
be split into n disjoint 4-element subsets {a, b, c, d} such that in each of
these sets a = b+c+d
3 ?

8
 4. (INMO 2001)Show that given any nine integers, we can find four, a, b, c, d
such that a + b − c − d is divisible by 20. Show that this is not always true
for eight integers.
5. (INMO 2015)Show that from a set of 11 square integers one can select six
numbers a2 , b2 , c2 , d2 , e2 , f 2 such that a2 + b2 + c2 ≡ d2 + e2 + f 2 (mod12).

6. (INMO2004) Show that the number of 5-tuples (a, b, c, d, e) of natural

numbers such that abcde = 5(bcde + acde + abde + abce + abcd) is an odd
integer.
7. (INMO 2016) Let N denote the set of all natural numbers. Define a func-
tion T : N → N by T (2k) = k and T (2k + 1) = 2k + 2. We write
T 2 (n) = T (T (n)) and in general T k (n) = T k−1 (T (n)) for any k > 1.
(i) Show that for each n ∈ N , there exists k such that T k (n)= 1.
(ii) For k ∈ N , let ck denote the number of elements in the set n : T k (n) = 1 .
Prove that ck+2 = ck+1 + ck , for k ≥ 1.
8. (INMO 2019)For any natural number n, consider a 1×n rectangular board
made up of n unit squares. This is covered by 3 types of tiles : 1 × 1 red
tile, 1 × 1 green tile and 1 × 2 blue domino. (For example, we can have 5
types of tiling when n = 2 : red-red ; red-green ; green-red ; green-green ;
and blue.) Let tn denote the number of ways of covering 1 × n rectangular
board by these 3 types of tiles. Prove that, tn divides t2n+1 .

9. (INMO2019)Let n and M be positive integers such that M > nn−1 . Prove

that there are n distinct primes p1 , p2 , p3 · · · , pn such that pj divides M +j
for all 1 ≤ j ≤ n.
10. (INMO2020) Let S be a subset of {0, 1, 2, · · · , 9}. Suppose there is a pos-
itive integer N such that for any integer n > N , one can find positive
integers a, b so that n = a + b and all the digits in the decimal representa-
tions of a, b (expressed without leading zeros) are in S. Find the smallest
possible value of |S|.
11. (INMO2021)Suppose r ≥ 2 is an integer, and let m1 , n1 , m2 , n2 , . . . , mr , nr
be 2r integers such that

|mi nj − mj ni | = 1

for any two integers i and j satisfying 1 ≤ i < j ≤ r. Determine the

maximum possible value of r.
Proposed by B Sury

12. (INMO2022)For a positive integer N , let T (N ) denote the number of ar-

rangements of the integers 1, 2, · · · N into a sequence a1 , a2 , · · · aN such
that ai > a2i for all i, 1 ≤ i < 2i ≤ N and ai > a2i+1 for all i,
1 ≤ i < 2i + 1 ≤ N . For example, T (3) is 2, since the possible ar-
rangements are 321 and 312

9
 (a) Find T (7)
(b) If K is the largest non-negative integer so that 2K divides T (2n − 1),
show that K = 2n − n − 1.
(c) Find the largest non-negative integer K so that 2K divides T (2n + 1).

Hints :
1. Parity
2. Residue classes (mod 11) and PHP
3. What would be necessary for such n ? Create a dummy problem on
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}Now generalize.
Can we now create examples showing the necessary condition is also a
sufficient condition?
4. Residue classes (mod 20) and PHP
5. Quadratic Residue (mod 12) and PHP
6. Let f (n) be the least k such that T k (n) = 1. Can we create a recurrence
relation for f (2n) or f (2n + 1)
α1 , α2 ,
7. Suppose M + j = pα 1 α2 αr
1 p2 · · · pr , and if pα αr
x = max {p1 p2 · · · , pr }
x

then associate px with M + j .

8. Take small dummy copy of the problem. try for n = 3, 4, 5 etc Can you
find some recurrence may not be general at least for a some values of n .
Tree diagram will be a great help here. AlsoLots of v2 (n).

6 Number theoretic Argument

• Modular arithmetic
• Parity
• Quadratic residue
1. (INMO 88) Prove that the product of 4 consecutive natural numbers can
not be a perfect cube.
2. (INMO 89)Find the least natural number whose last digit is 7 such that
it becomes 5 times larger when this last digit is carried to the beginning
of the number.
3. (INMO 95)Find all primes p for which the quotient
2p−1 − 1
p
is a square.

10
 4. (INMO 96)
a) Given any positive integer n, show that there exist distinct positive
integers x and y such that x + j divides y + j for j = 1, 2, 3, . . . , n;
b) If for some positive integers x and y, x + j divides y + j for all positive
integers j, prove that x = y.
√ √
5. (INMO 98)Let a and b be two positive rational
√ numbers
√ such that 3 a+ 3 b
is also a rational number. Prove that 3 a and 3 b themselves are rational
numbers.
6. (INMO 2004) If a is a real root of x5 − x3 + x − 2 = 0, show that [a6 ] = 3
43 α 17
7. (INMO 2005 P2)Let α and β be positive integers such that < < .
197 β 77
Find the minimum possible value of β.
8. (INMO 2006) Prove that for every positive integer n there exists a unique
ordered pair (a, b) of positive integers such that
1
n= (a + b − 1)(a + b − 2) + a.
2

9. (INMO 2006)
a) Prove that if n is a integer such that n ≥ 40112 then there exists an
integer l such that
1
n < l2 < (1 + )n.
2005
(b) Find the smallest positive integer M for which whenever an integer n
is such that n ≥ M then there exists an integer l such that
1
n < l2 < (1 + )n.
2005

10. (INMO 2014)Let a, b be natural numbers with ab > 2. Suppose that

the sum of their greatest common divisor and least common multiple is
divisible by a + b. Prove that the quotient is at most a+b
4 . When is this
a+b
quotient exactly equal to 4 ?

11. (INMO 2015)For any natural number n > 1 write the finite decimal expan-
sion of n1 (for example we write 21 = 0.49 as its infinite decimal expansion
not 0.5). Determine the length of non-periodic part of the (infinite) deci-
mal expansion of n1 .

Hints :
1. Algebraic manupulation.
2. Take the number as 10x + 7 .

11
 3. If p is odd then p − 1 is an even number so 2p−1 − 1 = (....)(....)
4. How does n consecutive composite numbers look like? Can we use some-
thing like that here?
5. Algebraic√manupulation.
√ Can we create an equation over integers with
roots as 3 aand 3 b?
6. Simply have to show 3 < a6 < 4 using the given eq. For positive real x ,
x + x1 ≥ 2 .
β
7. What is the range of ?
α
8. T (m) the m-th triangular number, is given by T (m) = m(m+1)
2 .
√ √
9. the smallest possible l such that l > n is [ n] + 1. so l ≤ ( n + 1)2 .
2 2
2 2
Try for M = 4010 , 4010 + 1 and so on .
10. Regular trick a = dk, b = dm and take cases on whether k, m are consec-
utive integers or not.
11. How can we convert 0.4399 into fractions ? We need to do something like
this here.

7 Binomial Theorem
√ √
• (a + b p)n + (a − b p)n = 2s
√ n √ n √
(a + b p) − (a − b p) = 2k p, s, k ∈ Z
1. (INMO 1988)If a0 , a1 , . . . , a50 are the coefficients of the polynomial

25
1 + x + x2
show that a0 + a2 + a4 + · · · + a50 is even.
2. (INMO 2017) n ≥ 1 be an integer and consider the sum
Xn  
n n
 
n n−2
 
n n−k 2
x= 2n−2k 3k = 2 + 2 ·3+ 2 · 3 + ···.
2k 0 2 4
k≥0

Show that 2x − 1, 2x, 2x + 1 form the sides of a triangle whose area and
inradius are also integers.
3. (Extra problem) Prove that for any positive integer n, the number
     
2n + 1 2n + 1 2n + 1
Sn = · 22n + · 22n−2 · 3 + · · · + · 3n
0 2 2n
is the sum of two consecutive perfect squares. (1999 Romanian Interna-
tional Mathematical Olympiad Team Selection Test)

12
Hints :
√ √
1. (a + b p)n + (a − b p)n = 2s
√ √
2. (a + b p)n + (a − b p)n = 2s
√ n √ n √
(a + b p) − (a − b p) = 2k p, s, k ∈ Z.
√ n √ √ √
Then (a + b p) = s + k p and (a − b p)n = s − k p
Then a2 − b2 p = s2 − k 2 p
√
2k
Also 3k = 3

13