Tuesday, February 14, 2017

algebra precalculus - If a(n)=n2+1 then gcd(an,2d(an))=1textor2?



Let nN. I write an=n2+1 and let d(an) count the number of divisors of an. Set Φn=gcd I would like to show and I believe it to be true that



\Phi_n = \begin{cases} 1, & \text{if $n$ is even} \\[2ex] 2, & \text{if $n$ is odd} \end{cases}




My gut instinct is two beak it down by parity and then use Euclid's lemma. But I am not sure how to use Euclid's lemma.



To see a working example consider n=15. Then a_n=226, d(a_n)=4 and \text{ }\Phi_n=\gcd(226,2^{4})=\gcd(226,16)=2


Answer



Note that 2^{d(a_n)} can only be divisible by 1 and powers of 2.



If n is even then n^2+1 is odd and in that case \gcd=1.



If n is odd, then n^2+1 \equiv 2 \pmod{4}. Thus n is not divisible by 4, hence the \gcd=2.




Added explanation:



Using the division algorithm, we can write any integer n=4k+r, where r \in \{0,1,2,3\}. So when n is odd, then it can only be of the form 4k+1 or 4k+3. Now consider the case when n=4k+1, then
n^2+1=(4k+1)^2+1=16k^2+8k+2=4(\text{some integer})+2.
Likewise when n=4k+3,we have
n^2+1=(4k+3)^2+1=16k^2+24k+8+2=4(\text{some integer})+2.



This means n^2+1 will always leave a remainder of 2, when divided by 4.


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