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k a May Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
May 1, 2025
May is an exciting month! National MATHCOUNTS is the second week of May in Washington D.C. and our Founder, Richard Rusczyk will be presenting a seminar, Preparing Strong Math Students for College and Careers, on May 11th.

Are you interested in working towards MATHCOUNTS and don’t know where to start? We have you covered! If you have taken Prealgebra, then you are ready for MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Basics. Already aiming for State or National MATHCOUNTS and harder AMC 8 problems? Then our MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Advanced course is for you.

Summer camps are starting next month at the Virtual Campus in math and language arts that are 2 - to 4 - weeks in duration. Spaces are still available - don’t miss your chance to have an enriching summer experience. There are middle and high school competition math camps as well as Math Beasts camps that review key topics coupled with fun explorations covering areas such as graph theory (Math Beasts Camp 6), cryptography (Math Beasts Camp 7-8), and topology (Math Beasts Camp 8-9)!

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[*]May 20th, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 1 Math Jam, Problems 1 to 4, join the Canada/USA Mathcamp staff for this exciting Math Jam, where they discuss solutions to Problems 1 to 4 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz!
[*]May 21st, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 2 Math Jam, Problems 5 and 6, Canada/USA Mathcamp staff will discuss solutions to Problems 5 and 6 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz![/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
k i Adding contests to the Contest Collections
dcouchman   1
N Apr 5, 2023 by v_Enhance
Want to help AoPS remain a valuable Olympiad resource? Help us add contests to AoPS's Contest Collections.

Find instructions and a list of contests to add here: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c40244h1064480_contests_to_add
1 reply
dcouchman
Sep 9, 2019
v_Enhance
Apr 5, 2023
k i Zero tolerance
ZetaX   49
N May 4, 2019 by NoDealsHere
Source: Use your common sense! (enough is enough)
Some users don't want to learn, some other simply ignore advises.
But please follow the following guideline:


To make it short: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!
If you don't have common sense, don't post.


More specifically:

For new threads:


a) Good, meaningful title:
The title has to say what the problem is about in best way possible.
If that title occured already, it's definitely bad. And contest names aren't good either.
That's in fact a requirement for being able to search old problems.

Examples:
Bad titles:
- "Hard"/"Medium"/"Easy" (if you find it so cool how hard/easy it is, tell it in the post and use a title that tells us the problem)
- "Number Theory" (hey guy, guess why this forum's named that way¿ and is it the only such problem on earth¿)
- "Fibonacci" (there are millions of Fibonacci problems out there, all posted and named the same...)
- "Chinese TST 2003" (does this say anything about the problem¿)
Good titles:
- "On divisors of a³+2b³+4c³-6abc"
- "Number of solutions to x²+y²=6z²"
- "Fibonacci numbers are never squares"


b) Use search function:
Before posting a "new" problem spend at least two, better five, minutes to look if this problem was posted before. If it was, don't repost it. If you have anything important to say on topic, post it in one of the older threads.
If the thread is locked cause of this, use search function.

Update (by Amir Hossein). The best way to search for two keywords in AoPS is to input
[code]+"first keyword" +"second keyword"[/code]
so that any post containing both strings "first word" and "second form".


c) Good problem statement:
Some recent really bad post was:
[quote]$lim_{n\to 1}^{+\infty}\frac{1}{n}-lnn$[/quote]
It contains no question and no answer.
If you do this, too, you are on the best way to get your thread deleted. Write everything clearly, define where your variables come from (and define the "natural" numbers if used). Additionally read your post at least twice before submitting. After you sent it, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.


For answers to already existing threads:


d) Of any interest and with content:
Don't post things that are more trivial than completely obvious. For example, if the question is to solve $x^{3}+y^{3}=z^{3}$, do not answer with "$x=y=z=0$ is a solution" only. Either you post any kind of proof or at least something unexpected (like "$x=1337, y=481, z=42$ is the smallest solution). Someone that does not see that $x=y=z=0$ is a solution of the above without your post is completely wrong here, this is an IMO-level forum.
Similar, posting "I have solved this problem" but not posting anything else is not welcome; it even looks that you just want to show off what a genius you are.

e) Well written and checked answers:
Like c) for new threads, check your solutions at least twice for mistakes. And after sending, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.



To repeat it: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!


Everything definitely out of range of common sense will be locked or deleted (exept for new users having less than about 42 posts, they are newbies and need/get some time to learn).

The above rules will be applied from next monday (5. march of 2007).
Feel free to discuss on this here.
49 replies
ZetaX
Feb 27, 2007
NoDealsHere
May 4, 2019
distance of a point from incircle equals to a diameter of incircle
parmenides51   4
N an hour ago by LeYohan
Source: 2019 Oral Moscow Geometry Olympiad grades 8-9 p1
In the triangle $ABC, I$ is the center of the inscribed circle, point $M$ lies on the side of $BC$, with $\angle BIM = 90^o$. Prove that the distance from point $M$ to line $AB$ is equal to the diameter of the circle inscribed in triangle $ABC$
4 replies
parmenides51
May 21, 2019
LeYohan
an hour ago
f(a + b) = f(a) + f(b) + f(c) + f(d) in N-{O}, with 2ab = c^2 + d^2
parmenides51   8
N 3 hours ago by TiagoCavalcante
Source: RMM Shortlist 2016 A1
Determine all functions $f$ from the set of non-negative integers to itself such that $f(a + b) = f(a) + f(b) + f(c) + f(d)$, whenever $a, b, c, d$, are non-negative integers satisfying $2ab = c^2 + d^2$.
8 replies
parmenides51
Jul 4, 2019
TiagoCavalcante
3 hours ago
Functional Inequality Implies Uniform Sign
peace09   33
N 4 hours ago by ezpotd
Source: 2023 ISL A2
Let $\mathbb{R}$ be the set of real numbers. Let $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ be a function such that \[f(x+y)f(x-y)\geqslant f(x)^2-f(y)^2\]for every $x,y\in\mathbb{R}$. Assume that the inequality is strict for some $x_0,y_0\in\mathbb{R}$.

Prove that either $f(x)\geqslant 0$ for every $x\in\mathbb{R}$ or $f(x)\leqslant 0$ for every $x\in\mathbb{R}$.
33 replies
peace09
Jul 17, 2024
ezpotd
4 hours ago
Labelling edges of Kn
oVlad   1
N 5 hours ago by TopGbulliedU
Source: Romania Junior TST 2025 Day 2 P3
Let $n\geqslant 3$ be an integer. Ion draws a regular $n$-gon and all its diagonals. On every diagonal and edge, Ion writes a positive integer, such that for any triangle formed with the vertices of the $n$-gon, one of the numbers on its edges is the sum of the two other numbers on its edges. Determine the smallest possible number of distinct values that Ion can write.
1 reply
oVlad
May 6, 2025
TopGbulliedU
5 hours ago
c^a + a = 2^b
Havu   8
N 5 hours ago by MathematicalArceus
Find $a, b, c\in\mathbb{Z}^+$ such that $a,b,c$ coprime, $a + b = 2c$ and $c^a + a = 2^b$.
8 replies
Havu
May 10, 2025
MathematicalArceus
5 hours ago
Concurrence of lines defined by intersections of circles
Lukaluce   1
N 5 hours ago by sarjinius
Source: 2025 Macedonian Balkan Math Olympiad TST Problem 2
Let $\triangle ABC$ be an acute-angled triangle and $A_1, B_1$, and $C_1$ be the feet of the altitudes from $A, B$, and $C$, respectively. On the rays $AA_1, BB_1$, and $CC_1$, we have points $A_2, B_2$, and $C_2$ respectively, lying outside of $\triangle ABC$, such that
\[\frac{A_1A_2}{AA_1} = \frac{B_1B_2}{BB_1} = \frac{C_1C_2}{CC_1}.\]If the intersections of $B_1C_2$ and $B_2C_1$, $C_1A_2$ and $C_2A_1$, and $A_1B_2$ and $A_2B_1$ are $A', B'$, and $C'$ respectively, prove that $AA', BB'$, and $CC'$ have a common point.
1 reply
Lukaluce
Apr 14, 2025
sarjinius
5 hours ago
Factorial Divisibility
Aryan-23   45
N 5 hours ago by MathematicalArceus
Source: IMO SL 2022 N2
Find all positive integers $n>2$ such that
$$ n! \mid \prod_{ p<q\le n, p,q \, \text{primes}} (p+q)$$
45 replies
Aryan-23
Jul 9, 2023
MathematicalArceus
5 hours ago
Multiple of multinomial coefficient is an integer
orl   14
N 5 hours ago by mickeymouse7133
Source: Romanian Master in Mathematics 2009, Problem 1
For $ a_i \in \mathbb{Z}^ +$, $ i = 1, \ldots, k$, and $ n = \sum^k_{i = 1} a_i$, let $ d = \gcd(a_1, \ldots, a_k)$ denote the greatest common divisor of $ a_1, \ldots, a_k$.
Prove that $ \frac {d} {n} \cdot \frac {n!}{\prod\limits^k_{i = 1} (a_i!)}$ is an integer.

Dan Schwarz, Romania
14 replies
orl
Mar 7, 2009
mickeymouse7133
5 hours ago
Functional Equation from IMO
prtoi   1
N 5 hours ago by KAME06
Source: IMO
Question: $f(2a)+2f(b)=f(f(a+b))$
Solve for f:Z-->Z
My solution:
At a=0, $f(0)+2f(b)=f(f(b))$
Take t=f(b) to get $f(0)+2t=f(t)$
Therefore, f(x)=2x+n where n=f(0)
Could someone please clarify if this is right or wrong?
1 reply
prtoi
5 hours ago
KAME06
5 hours ago
can you solve this..?
Jackson0423   1
N 5 hours ago by GreekIdiot
Source: Own

Find the number of integer pairs \( (x, y) \) satisfying the equation
\[ 4x^2 - 3y^2 = 1 \]such that \( |x| \leq 2025 \).
1 reply
Jackson0423
May 8, 2025
GreekIdiot
5 hours ago
Gergonne point Harmonic quadrilateral
niwobin   0
5 hours ago
Triangle ABC has incircle touching the sides at D, E, F as shown.
AD, BE, CF concurrent at Gergonne point G.
BG and CG cuts the incircle at X and Y, respectively.
AG cuts the incircle at K.
Prove: K, X, D, Y form a harmonic quadrilateral. (KX/KY = DX/DY)
0 replies
niwobin
5 hours ago
0 replies
Combi that will make you question every choice in your life so far
blug   1
N 6 hours ago by HotSinglesInYourArea
$A$ and $B$ are standing in front of the room in which there is $C$. They know that there is a chessboard in the room and that on every square there is a coin. Every coin is black on one side and white on the other side and is flipped randomly. $A$ enters the room and then $C$ points at exactly one square on the chessboard. After that, $A$ must flip exactly one coin of his choice on the chessboard to the other side and leave. Finally, $B$ enters the room ($A$ and $B$ haven't met again after $A$ entered the room) and he has to guess which square did $C$ point at.
What strategy do $A$ and $B$ have that will make this happen every time?
1 reply
blug
Yesterday at 5:46 PM
HotSinglesInYourArea
6 hours ago
Functional equation
Pmshw   17
N 6 hours ago by arzhang2001
Source: Iran 2nd round 2022 P2
Find all functions $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ such that for any real value of $x,y$ we have:
$$f(xf(y)+f(x)+y)=xy+f(x)+f(y)$$
17 replies
Pmshw
May 8, 2022
arzhang2001
6 hours ago
Hard Geometry
Jalil_Huseynov   3
N 6 hours ago by bin_sherlo
Source: DGO 2021, Individual stage, Day1 P3
Let triangle $ABC$ be a triangle with incenter $I$ and circumcircle $\Omega$ with circumcenter $O$. The incircle touches $CA, AB$ at $E, F$ respectively. $R$ is another intersection point of external bisector of $\angle BAC$ with $\Omega$, and $T$ is $\text{A-mixtillinear}$ incircle touch point to $\Omega$. Let $W, X, Z$ be points lie on $\Omega$. $RX$ intersect $AI$ at $Y$ . Assume that $R \ne X$. Suppose that $E, F, X, Y$ and $W, Z, E, F$ are concyclic, and $AZ, EF, RX$ are concurrent.
Prove that
$\bullet$ $AZ, RW, OI$ are concurrent.
$\bullet$ $\text{A-symmedian}$, tangent line to $\Omega$ at $T$ and $WZ$ are concurrent.

Proporsed by wassupevery1 and k12byda5h
3 replies
Jalil_Huseynov
Dec 26, 2021
bin_sherlo
6 hours ago
All prime factors under 8
qwedsazxc   23
N Apr 22, 2025 by Giant_PT
Source: 2023 KMO Final Round Day 2 Problem 4
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
23 replies
qwedsazxc
Mar 26, 2023
Giant_PT
Apr 22, 2025
All prime factors under 8
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: 2023 KMO Final Round Day 2 Problem 4
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qwedsazxc
167 posts
#1 • 1 Y
Y by DEKT
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by qwedsazxc, Mar 26, 2023, 6:56 AM
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seojun8978
73 posts
#2
Y by
I took the test and I solved this problem. It needs some long calculations but they are not that hard. The answer seems to be 1,2,3,4,6
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Tintarn
9044 posts
#3 • 4 Y
Y by seojun8978, rightways, ljwn357, Assassino9931
Solution
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Tintarn, Mar 26, 2023, 7:00 AM
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seojun8978
73 posts
#4 • 1 Y
Y by Tintarn
Tintarn wrote:
Solution
Nice Solution!! It's like 20 times shorter than my solution.
But.. Do you mean except?(expect)
Z K Y
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qwedsazxc
167 posts
#5
Y by
This was the easiest one on the test, probably everyone solved this.
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seojun8978
73 posts
#6 • 1 Y
Y by GuvercinciHoca
qwedsazxc wrote:
This was the easiest one on the test, probably everyone solved this.

Yes it's true. This would have been easier than geometry if there was one.
Z K Y
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Seungjun_Lee
526 posts
#7
Y by
seojun8978 wrote:
qwedsazxc wrote:
This was the easiest one on the test, probably everyone solved this.

Yes it's true. This would have been easier than geometry if there was one.

I think the geometry problem was as easy as this and maybe a little easier(on day 1)
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by Seungjun_Lee, Mar 26, 2023, 1:51 PM
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pokmui9909
185 posts
#8
Y by
I'm very curious about the prize cut. I heard there are a lot of participants who solved $4, 5$ problems.
Z K Y
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Seungjun_Lee
526 posts
#9
Y by
pokmui9909 wrote:
I'm very curious about the prize cut. I heard there are a lot of participants who solved $4, 5$ problems.

I did not take the test but it seems that 2 problems are given
Maybe really perfect 2problems or just 3problems will be honorable mention award
Z K Y
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IAmTheHazard
5003 posts
#10 • 2 Y
Y by megarnie, centslordm
Trivial by Zsigmondy
Z K Y
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Tintarn
9044 posts
#11
Y by
IAmTheHazard wrote:
Trivial by Zsigmondy
I agree that the problem is trivial and my first thought when I saw the problem was also Zsigmondy, but now I am quite certain that there is no detailed solution with Zsigmondy that is shorter than my elementary one in #3. (After all, there is no way around checking the small cases.)
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Tintarn, Mar 26, 2023, 5:14 PM
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rightways
868 posts
#12
Y by
$Lemma:$

If $n>1$, then the greatest prime divisor of $2^n-1$ is greater than the greatest prime divisor of $n$.

Proof:

Let $p|n$ is greatest prime divisor of $n$, then for some prime $q$:
$q|2^p-1|2^n-1$, then $q>p$ because $p=ord_2(q)$. But $q$ is also a divisor of $2^n-1$, so it is not greater than gpd of $2^n-1$.

Now, in problem, by lemma we have that $7$ is greater than any prime divisor of $n$ , so we can write $n=2^a3^b5^c$ and we can easily finish problem by proving this $c<1$ and $b<2$ and $a<3$
Z K Y
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rightways
868 posts
#13
Y by
Can you post KJMO day 2 problems?
qwedsazxc wrote:
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
Z K Y
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qwedsazxc
167 posts
#14
Y by
rightways wrote:
Can you post KJMO day 2 problems?
qwedsazxc wrote:
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$

There isn't a KJMO day 2. Final KMO contestants are picked from the people who excelled KMO 2nd round or KJMO 2nd round. I had the chance to take the Final KMO because I got a silver award from the KJMO I took on November 2022.
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hectorleo123
345 posts
#15
Y by
qwedsazxc wrote:
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
$2^2-1=2$
$2^3-1=7$
$2^4-1=3\times 5$
$gcd(2,1)=1$
By Zsigmondy's Theorem:
$\Rightarrow \exists$ prime $p \neq 2,3,5,7 / p|2^n-1, \forall n>4$
$\Rightarrow n\le 4$
But there is an exception $n=6$
$\Rightarrow n=1,2,3,4$ and $6$ are the only values that satisfy the condition $_\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by hectorleo123, May 19, 2023, 1:48 AM
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Aiden-1089
295 posts
#16
Y by
It is easy to check that $n=1,2,3,4,6$ works. We claim that these are the only solutions.
Clearly $2 \nmid 2^n-1$. By Zsigmondy's theorem, any other $n$ would lead to $2^n-1$ having a prime divisor $p$ where $p \neq 3$ (because $3 \mid 2^2-1$), $5$ (because $5 \mid 2^4-1$), $7$ (because $7 \mid 2^3-1$). Since $p>7$, $n$ does not satisfy the condition.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Aiden-1089, Mar 26, 2024, 4:32 AM
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cursed_tangent1434
635 posts
#17 • 1 Y
Y by GeoKing
Me when this actually appeared on our National Olympiad. We claim that the only answers are $2,3,4$ and $6$. It is easy to see that these solutions indeed work. Now, we show that there are no other solutions.

We use the well known lemma that for all $d\mid n$ for positive integers $n$,
\[a^d - b^d \mid a^n - b^n\]for all positive integers $a,b$ extensively through out this solution. We first constrict the divisors of $n$.

Claim : There exists no prime divisor $p >3$ of $n$.
Proof : Say there exists such a prime factor $p$ of $n$. Then,
\[2^p -1 \mid 2^n-1\]and since $2^n-1$ has no prime factor larger than 7, this implies that $2^p-1$ also satisfies the same property. But, it is easy to see that $2 \nmid 2^n-1$ for any $n$, $3\mid 2^n-1$ only for even $n$, $5\mid 2^n-1$ only for $4\mid n$ and $7\mid 2^n-1$ only for $3\mid n$. Since $p>3$, this means that none of these prime factors can divide $2^p-1$ implying that it has a prime factor larger than 7, which is a clear contradiction. This proves the claim.

Now, we also note that,
\[2^8-1 = 255=3 \times 5 \times 17\]so, $8 \nmid n$ (since then $17 \mid 2^n-1$), and also
\[2^9 -1 = 511 = 7 \times 73\]so $9 \nmid n$ as well. This implies that $12 \mid n$ so $n \in \{1,2,3,4,6,12\}$. Now, we can simply check all these possibilities and see that they all work except for $1$ (which we exclude for conventional reasons) and $12$ (which we exclude since $2^{12}-1= 3^2 \times 5 \times 7 \times 13$ so $13$ is a prime factor), which implies that the solution set is indeed as claimed.
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kub-inst
31 posts
#18
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If $n$ satisfies the limit, then we can let $2^n-1=3^a\cdot 5^b\cdot 7^c$
Since$$3||(2^2-1),$$$$5||(2^4-1),$$$$7||(2^3-1)$$Then through LTE we can know that :
If $2|n,a=v_3(2^n-1)=v_3(\frac n2)+1\leq \log_3\frac n2+1.$
If $4|n,b=v_5(2^n-1)=v_5(\frac n4)+1\leq \log_5\frac n4+1.$
If $3|n,c=v_7(2^n-1)=v_7(\frac n3)+1\leq \log_7\frac n3+1.$
Hence, $$2^n-1=3^a\cdot 5^b\cdot 7^c\leq 3^{\log_3\frac n2+1}\cdot 5^{\log_5\frac n4+1}\cdot 7^{\log_7\frac n3+1}=\frac{85n^3}{24}$$(If $a, b$ or $c=0$, the inequality above is still ture evidently.)
Since $n\in \mathbb{N}^+,$ the inequality above requires $n\leq12$.
We can verify that the original statement is TRUE only when $n=1,2,3,4,6$ .$\square$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by kub-inst, Jun 5, 2024, 6:03 AM
Reason: mistyped
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Scilyse
387 posts
#20
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Zsigmondeez nuts
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Eka01
204 posts
#21
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By Zsigmondy, every $n$ gives a new prime factor apart from a small few (like greater than 10 or smth, dont have the energy to recall the edge cases). Then just check the few cases by hand.
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alexanderhamilton124
399 posts
#22
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7 | 2^3 - 1 ==> we done by zsigmondy
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by alexanderhamilton124, Jan 9, 2025, 3:34 AM
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RedFireTruck
4223 posts
#24
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n=1 gives 1
n=2 gives 3
n=3 gives 7
n=4 gives 15=3*5
n=6 gives 63=3*3*7

by zsigmondy theorem, every other 2^n-1 must have a prime factor other than 3,5,7 so this is all
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Ihatecombin
62 posts
#25
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L.T.E also works here, even with brain dead level bounding one only needs to check until $n=14$.
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Giant_PT
44 posts
#26
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Almost trivial by Zsigmondy :(
We can see that the smallest $n$ for which $3|2^{n}-1$, $5|2^{n}-1$, and $7|2^{n}-1$ are $2$, $4$ and $3$ respectively. Also, we have the exceptional case when $n=6$, so by just checking small values of $n$, we see that $n=1,2,3,4,6$ are the only solutions.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by Giant_PT, Apr 22, 2025, 3:41 PM
Reason: Typos
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