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k a March Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Mar 2, 2025
March is the month for State MATHCOUNTS competitions! Kudos to everyone who participated in their local chapter competitions and best of luck to all going to State! Join us on March 11th for a Math Jam devoted to our favorite Chapter competition problems! Are you interested in training for MATHCOUNTS? Be sure to check out our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics and Advanced courses.

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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 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
This problem has unintended solution, found by almost all who solved it :(
mshtand1   4
N 5 minutes ago by Ilikeminecraft
Source: Ukrainian Mathematical Olympiad 2025. Day 2, Problem 11.7
Given a triangle \(ABC\), an arbitrary point \(D\) is chosen on the side \(AC\). In triangles \(ABD\) and \(CBD\), the angle bisectors \(BK\) and \(BL\) are drawn, respectively. The point \(O\) is the circumcenter of \(\triangle KBL\). Prove that the second intersection point of the circumcircles of triangles \(ABL\) and \(CBK\) lies on the line \(OD\).

Proposed by Anton Trygub
4 replies
mshtand1
Today at 1:00 AM
Ilikeminecraft
5 minutes ago
USAMO 2001 Problem 4
MithsApprentice   32
N 32 minutes ago by HamstPan38825
Let $P$ be a point in the plane of triangle $ABC$ such that the segments $PA$, $PB$, and $PC$ are the sides of an obtuse triangle. Assume that in this triangle the obtuse angle opposes the side congruent to $PA$. Prove that $\angle BAC$ is acute.
32 replies
+1 w
MithsApprentice
Sep 30, 2005
HamstPan38825
32 minutes ago
APMO 2016: Line is tangent to circle
shinichiman   41
N 39 minutes ago by Ilikeminecraft
Source: APMO 2016, problem 3
Let $AB$ and $AC$ be two distinct rays not lying on the same line, and let $\omega$ be a circle with center $O$ that is tangent to ray $AC$ at $E$ and ray $AB$ at $F$. Let $R$ be a point on segment $EF$. The line through $O$ parallel to $EF$ intersects line $AB$ at $P$. Let $N$ be the intersection of lines $PR$ and $AC$, and let $M$ be the intersection of line $AB$ and the line through $R$ parallel to $AC$. Prove that line $MN$ is tangent to $\omega$.

Warut Suksompong, Thailand
41 replies
shinichiman
May 16, 2016
Ilikeminecraft
39 minutes ago
Parallelogram and a simple cyclic quadrilateral
Noob_at_math_69_level   5
N an hour ago by awesomeming327.
Source: DGO 2023 Individual P1
Let $ABC$ be an acute triangle with point $D$ lie on the plane such that $ABDC$ is a parallelogram. $H$ is the orthocenter of $\triangle{ABC}.$ $BH$ intersects $CD$ at $Y$ and $CH$ intersects $BD$ at $X.$ The circle with diameter $AH$ intersects the circumcircle of $\triangle{ABC}$ again at $Q.$ Prove that: The circumcircle of $\triangle{XQY}$ passes through the reflection point of $D$ over $BC.$

Proposed by MathLuis
5 replies
Noob_at_math_69_level
Dec 18, 2023
awesomeming327.
an hour ago
Line through incenter tangent to a circle
Kayak   31
N an hour ago by ihategeo_1969
Source: Indian TST D1 P1
In an acute angled triangle $ABC$ with $AB < AC$, let $I$ denote the incenter and $M$ the midpoint of side $BC$. The line through $A$ perpendicular to $AI$ intersects the tangent from $M$ to the incircle (different from line $BC$) at a point $P$> Show that $AI$ is tangent to the circumcircle of triangle $MIP$.

Proposed by Tejaswi Navilarekallu
31 replies
Kayak
Jul 17, 2019
ihategeo_1969
an hour ago
Changeable polynomials, can they ever become equal?
mshtand1   3
N an hour ago by CHESSR1DER
Source: Ukrainian Mathematical Olympiad 2025. Day 2, Problem 11.5
Initially, two constant polynomials are written on the board: \(0\) and \(1\). At each step, it is allowed to add \(1\) to one of the polynomials and to multiply another one by the polynomial \(45x + 2025\). Can the polynomials become equal at some point?

Proposed by Oleksii Masalitin
3 replies
mshtand1
Today at 12:47 AM
CHESSR1DER
an hour ago
Finally my algebra that I am proud of
mshtand1   1
N 2 hours ago by RagvaloD
Source: Ukrainian Mathematical Olympiad 2025. Day 2, Problem 8.7
Find the smallest real number \(a\) such that for any positive integer number \(n > 2\) and any arrangement of the numbers from 1 to \(n\) on a circle, there exists a pair of adjacent numbers whose ratio (when dividing the larger number by the smaller one) is less than \(a\).

Proposed by Mykhailo Shtandenko
1 reply
mshtand1
Yesterday at 11:59 PM
RagvaloD
2 hours ago
f(2) = 7, find all integer functions [Taiwan 2014 Quizzes]
v_Enhance   54
N 2 hours ago by Marcus_Zhang
Find all increasing functions $f$ from the nonnegative integers to the integers satisfying $f(2)=7$ and \[ f(mn) = f(m) + f(n) + f(m)f(n) \] for all nonnegative integers $m$ and $n$.
54 replies
v_Enhance
Jul 18, 2014
Marcus_Zhang
2 hours ago
Floor double summation
CyclicISLscelesTrapezoid   50
N 2 hours ago by Ilikeminecraft
Source: ISL 2021 A2
Which positive integers $n$ make the equation \[\sum_{i=1}^n \sum_{j=1}^n \left\lfloor \frac{ij}{n+1} \right\rfloor=\frac{n^2(n-1)}{4}\]true?
50 replies
CyclicISLscelesTrapezoid
Jul 12, 2022
Ilikeminecraft
2 hours ago
Binary expansion of sqrt3
v_Enhance   29
N 2 hours ago by Jack_w
Source: USA January TST for IMO 2016, Problem 1
Let $\sqrt 3 = 1.b_1b_2b_3 \dots _{(2)}$ be the binary representation of $\sqrt 3$. Prove that for any positive integer $n$, at least one of the digits $b_n$, $b_{n+1}$, $\dots$, $b_{2n}$ equals $1$.
29 replies
v_Enhance
May 17, 2016
Jack_w
2 hours ago
number theory
MuradSafarli   6
N 3 hours ago by fathermather_AZE
Find all natural numbers \( k \) such that

\[
4k^3 + 4k + 1
\]
is a perfect square.
6 replies
MuradSafarli
Today at 6:05 AM
fathermather_AZE
3 hours ago
Of course nobody solved it
mshtand1   1
N 3 hours ago by kiyoras_2001
Source: Ukrainian Mathematical Olympiad 2025. Day 1, Problem 9.4
There are \(n^2 + n\) numbers, none of which appears more than \(\frac{n^2 + n}{2}\) times. Prove that they can be divided into \((n+1)\) groups of \(n\) numbers each in such a way that the sums of the numbers in these groups are pairwise distinct.

Proposed by Anton Trygub
1 reply
mshtand1
Yesterday at 11:08 PM
kiyoras_2001
3 hours ago
A kite inside a cyclic
ricarlos   1
N 3 hours ago by MathLuis
Let $ABCD$ be a cyclic quadrilateral. $AC$ and $BD$ intersect at $E$. Let $P$ and $Q$ be the projections of $E$ onto $AB$ and $CD$ and $M$ and $N$ be the midpoints of $BC$ and $AD$, respectively. Prove that $PMQN$ is a kite.
1 reply
ricarlos
4 hours ago
MathLuis
3 hours ago
numbers on blackboard
QueenArwen   1
N 3 hours ago by WallyWalrus
Source: 46th International Tournament of Towns, Junior O-Level P1, Spring 2025
On the blackboard, there are numbers $1, 2, \dots , 100$. At each move, Bob erases arbitrary two numbers $a$ and $b$, where $a \ge b > 0$, and writes the single number $\lfloor{a/b}\rfloor$. After $99$ such moves the blackboard will contain a single number. What is its maximum possible value? (Reminder that $\lfloor{x}\rfloor$ is the maximum integer not exceeding $x$.)
1 reply
QueenArwen
Mar 11, 2025
WallyWalrus
3 hours ago
Integral ratio of divisors to divisors 1 mod 3 of 10n
cjquines0   17
N Feb 26, 2025 by Maximilian113
Source: 2016 IMO Shortlist N2
Let $\tau(n)$ be the number of positive divisors of $n$. Let $\tau_1(n)$ be the number of positive divisors of $n$ which have remainders $1$ when divided by $3$. Find all positive integral values of the fraction $\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}$.
17 replies
cjquines0
Jul 19, 2017
Maximilian113
Feb 26, 2025
Integral ratio of divisors to divisors 1 mod 3 of 10n
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G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: 2016 IMO Shortlist N2
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cjquines0
510 posts
#1 • 11 Y
Y by ManuelKahayon, Davi-8191, Wikson, mathleticguyyy, Adventure10, Mango247, deplasmanyollari, Marshall_Huang, NicoN9, wizixez, HWenslawski
Let $\tau(n)$ be the number of positive divisors of $n$. Let $\tau_1(n)$ be the number of positive divisors of $n$ which have remainders $1$ when divided by $3$. Find all positive integral values of the fraction $\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}$.
Z K Y
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m.candales
186 posts
#2 • 4 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247, Marshall_Huang, HWenslawski
Notice that $\tau_1(3^uw)=\tau_1(w)$ for any $w$ not multiple of $3$
Notice also that $\tau(n) > \tau_1(n)$ for any $n$ multiple of $10$, since $2$ is a divisor of $n$. Then $\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}>1$
Notice that $\frac{\tau(10)}{\tau_1(10)}=\frac{4}{2}=2$

Let $m$ be a composite number. Then $m=ab$ for some positive integers $a,b\ge 2$.
Take $k=\tau_1(2^{a-1}5^{b-1})$ and $n=2^{a-2}5^{b-2}3^{k-1}$

$\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}=\frac{\tau(2^{a-1}5^{b-1}3^{k-1})}{\tau_1(2^{a-1}5^{b-1}3^{k-1})}=\frac{abk}{k}=m$

We will prove that it is impossible to have $\frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_1(n)}=p$ for some prime $p>2$ and $n$ a multiple of $10$

Define a number not divisible by $3$ to be of type $1$ or type $2$ if it leaves a reminder $1$ or $2$ respectively when divided by $3$. Let $T_1(n)$ be the set of divisors of $n$ of type $1$ and $T_2(n)$ be the set of divisors of $n$ of type $2$. So $\tau_1(n)=|T_1(n)|$. Define $\tau_2(n)=|T_2(n)|$. Let $T(n)$ be the set of divisors of $n$

$\mathbf{Lemma:}$ Suppose that $n$ is not divisible by $3$.
a) $\tau_1(n)+\tau_2(n) = \tau(n)$
b) If $n$ has no prime divisors of type 1 then $\tau_1(n)=\tau_2(n)$ or $\tau_1(n)=\tau_2(n)+1$
c) If $n=mh$ where all prime divisors of $m$ are type 2 and all prime divisors of $h$ are type 1. Then $\frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_1(n)}=\frac{\tau(m)}{\tau_1(m)}$

$\mathbf{Proof:}$
a) This is trivial, since $n$ doesn't have divisors that are divisible by $3$

b) We will prove that by induction. $\tau_1(1)=1$ and $\tau_2(1)=0$. So it holds for $n=1$.
Suppose that $n>1$. Then $n=p^am$ for some $p$ prime of type 2, $a,m\ge 1$ and $m$ not divisible by $p$. By the induction hypothesis $\tau_1(m)=\tau_2(m)$ or $\tau_1(m)=\tau_2(m)+1$

$T_1(n)=\{xy: x\in T_1(p^a), y\in T_1(m)\ or\ x\in T_2(p^a), y\in T_2(m)\}$ and $T_2(n)=\{xy: x\in T_1(p^a), y\in T_2(m)\ or\ x\in T_2(p^a), y\in T_1(m)\}$

Then $\tau_1(n)=\tau_1(p^a)\tau_1(m) + \tau_2(p^a)\tau_2(m)$ and $\tau_2(n)=\tau_1(p^a)\tau_2(m) + \tau_2(p^a)\tau_1(m)$.
If $\tau_1(m)=\tau_2(m)$ then $\tau_1(n)=\tau_2(n)=\tau(p^a)\tau_1(m)$
If $\tau_1(m)=\tau_2(m)+1$. Then we have two cases: $a$ even or odd
$T_1(p^a) = \{p^x: 0\le x\le a, x\ even\}$ and $T_2(p^a) = \{p^x: 0\le x\le a, x\ odd\}$.
If $a=2k$ then $\tau_1(p^a)=k+1$ and $\tau_2(p^a)=k$.
$\tau_1(n)=(k+1)\tau_1(m)+k\tau_2(m)=k\tau(m)+\tau_1(m)$ and $\tau_2(n)=(k+1)\tau_2(m)+k\tau_1(m)=k\tau(m)+\tau_2(m)$. Then $\tau_1(n)=\tau_2(n)+1$
If $a=2k-1$ then $\tau_1(p^a)=k$ and $\tau_2(p^a)=k$.
$\tau_1(n)=k\tau_1(m)+k\tau_2(m)=k\tau(m)$ and $\tau_2(n)=k\tau_1(m)+k\tau_2(m)=k\tau(m)$. Then $\tau_1(n)=\tau_2(n)$

c) $T_1(n)=\{xy: x\in T_1(m), y\in T(h)\}$. Then $\tau_1(n)=\tau_1(m)\tau(h)$
$T(n)=\{xy: x\in T(m), y\in T(h)\}$. Then $\tau(n)=\tau(m)\tau(h)$
It follows that $\frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_1(n)}=\frac{\tau(m)}{\tau_1(m)}$.


Now suppose that $\frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_1(n)}=p$ for some prime $p>2$ and $n$ a multiple of $10$
Let $n=3^uw$ with $w$ not divisible by $3$.
By the lemma, we have that $\frac{\tau(w)}{\tau_1(w)} = 2$ or $\frac{2s-1}{s}$ where $s=\tau_1(w)$. Notice that $s=\tau_1(w)>1$ since $1$ and $10$ are divisors of $w$
$\frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_1(n)}=\frac{(u+1)\tau(w)}{\tau_1(w)}=2(u+1)$ or $\frac{(u+1)(2s-1)}{s}$
$p$ is not even, then $p=\frac{(u+1)(2s-1)}{s}$, then $ps=(u+1)(2s-1)$.
$s$ and $2s-1$ are coprime, then $2s-1$ divides $p$, then $p=2s-1=\tau(w)$. However, $w$ is multiple of $10$, then $(a+1)(b+1)$ divides $\tau(w)$ where $w=2^a5^bv$, $v$ coprime with $10$. Then $\tau(w)$ can't be prime. Contradiction!

Then the proof is complete, and all posible values of $\frac{\tau(10)}{\tau_1(10)}$ are $2$ and all composite numbers
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by m.candales, Jul 19, 2017, 9:52 PM
Reason: typos
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randomusername
1059 posts
#3 • 12 Y
Y by vsathiam, Davi-8191, ValidName, Wikson, Pluto1708, PcelicaMaja, Wizard_32, Aryan-23, everythingpi3141592, VicKmath7, Adventure10, Marshall_Huang
Let $10n=3^\alpha p_1^{\beta_1}\dots p_r^{\beta_r}\underbrace{q_1^{\gamma_1}\dots q_s^{\gamma_s}}_{=:m}$ where $r\ge 0$, $s\ge 2$, $\alpha\ge 0$ and $\beta_i,\gamma_i\ge 1$, and all the $p_i$'s are $1$ mod $3$, while all the $q_i$'s are $2$ mod $3$. Then
\[
\lambda:=\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}=\frac{(\alpha+1)\prod(\beta_i+1)\cdot \tau(m)}{\prod(\beta_i+1)\cdot \tau_1(m)}=(\alpha+1)\frac{\tau(m)}{\tau_1(m)}.
\]Use generating functions. Define $G(x)=\prod_{j=1}^s (1+x+\dots+x^{\gamma_i})$. Multiply out the product $G(x)$, then we will have the sum of terms $x^{k_1+k_2+\dots +k_s}$, one term corresponding to each divisor $\delta=q_1^{k_1}\dots q_s^{k_s}$ of $m$. Note that $\delta$ is $1$ mod $3$ if $k_1+\dots+k_s$ is even, and $2$ mod $3$ if it is odd. Therefore,
\[
G(1)=\tau(m),\qquad G(-1)=\tau_1(m)-(\tau(m)-\tau_1(m)).
\]Now $G(-1)=\prod_{j=1}^s \frac{(-1)^{\gamma_i+1}-1}{(-1)-1}$ is $0$ if some $\gamma_i$ is odd, and $1$ if all the $\gamma_i$'s are even. In the first case, $\tau(m)=2\tau_1(m)$, so $\lambda$ runs through the even positive integers. In the second case, $\tau(m)=2\tau_1(m)-1$ is coprime to $\tau_1(m)$, so $\lambda$ can only be an integer if it is a multiple of $\tau(m)$. Since $\tau(m)=\prod_{j=1}^s (\gamma_j+1)$ runs through the composite odd numbers due to $s\ge 2$ (as $10|m$), this case generates all multiples of some composite odd number.

Therefore the answer: the possible integer values are precisely the even numbers and the composite odd numbers.
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ayan.nmath
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#4 • 5 Y
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Solution
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AlastorMoody
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#5 • 4 Y
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fidgetboss_4000
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#6 • 1 Y
Y by Marshall_Huang
Solution
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IAmTheHazard
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#7 • 1 Y
Y by Marshall_Huang
The answer is all evens and odd composites (which can also be described as all composites and two). Let the fraction be $f(n)$. I will exhaust all possible cases of the value of $n$ and show that there always exists a construction for evens and odd composites, and also that odd primes are not achievable.
First observe that if $3 \nmid n$, we have $f(3^kn)=(k+1)f(n)$. Also note that multiplying $n$ by primes that are $1 \pmod{3}$ doesn't change $f(n)$, so for the rest of this solution suppose that $n$ is not divisible by any primes $1 \pmod{3}$.
Now, call a prime "cool" if it is $2\pmod{3}$. I will prove the following lemma:
Lemma: Suppose $n=p_1^{e_1}p_2^{e_2}\cdots p_k^{e_k}$, where for $1 \leq i \leq k$, $p_i$ is a cool prime and $e_i$ is a positive integer. Then $\tau_1(n)$ is equal to
$$\left\lfloor \frac{\tau(n)}{2}\right\rfloor.$$Proof: Observe that a divisor $d=p_1^{d_1}p_2^{d_2}\cdots p_k^{d_k}$ (where we allow $d_i$ to be zero) of $n$ is counted in $\tau_1(n)$ if and only if $d_1+d_2+\cdots+d_k$ is even. First, suppose at least one of the $e_i$ is odd; let one such odd be $e_j$. Then the expression is just $\frac{\prod_{i=1}^k (e_i+1)}{2}$. Thinking combinatorically, we obtain every divisor counted in $\tau_1(n)$ by first picking $d_1,d_2,\ldots,d_{j-1},d_{j+1},\ldots,d_k$ arbitrarily. Then we have exactly $\tfrac{e_k+1}{2}$ choices of $e_k$, which implies the result. Now suppose all of the $e_i$ are even. Here is a curious combinatorical proof for this part:
Pick some $N>\max(e_1,e_2,\ldots,e_k)$. Then for a divisor $p_1^{d_1}p_2^{d_2}\cdots p_k^{d_k}$ of $n$, let $g(n)=\overline{d_1d_2\ldots,d_k}_N$. We can order the set
$$S=\{g(d), d \mid n\}$$in increasing order, starting with $g(1),g(d_k),\ldots$ and ending with $g(n)$. It's not hard to check that the mod 3 residue of $d$ flips between 1 and 2 as we traverse the sequence. Since the parity of 1 and n mod 3 are both 1, it follows that $\tau_1(n)$ equals
$$\frac{1}{2}(\tau(n)-1)=\left\lfloor \frac{\tau(n)}{2}\right\rfloor.\quad \blacksquare$$Now we compute the possible values of $f(n)$. If $10n$ is not a perfect square and $3 \nmid n$, then from our lemma we have
$$f(n)=\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}=2.$$Using $f(3^kn)=(k+1)f(n)$ when $3 \nmid n$, it follows that
$$f(3^k\cdot n)=2(k+1),$$which covers all evens.
Now suppose $10n$ is a perfect square and $3 \nmid n$. Then
$$f(3^k\cdot n)=\frac{\tau(10n)(k+1)}{\frac{1}{2}(\tau(10n)-1)}.$$We can verify with the Euclidean Algorithm that $\gcd(\tau(10n),\tfrac{1}{2}(\tau(10n)-1))=1$, so if $f(3^k\cdot n)$ is an integer, it must be divisible by $\tau(10n)$. Let
$$10n=2^a5^bp_1^{e_1}p_2^{e_2}\cdots p_r^{e_r},$$where for $1 \leq i \leq r$, $p_i$ is a good prime not equal to $2$ or $5$ and $e_k$ is a positive integer; note that since $10n$ is a perfect square, $a,b$ are even numbers that are at least $2$. Then $(a+1)(b+1) \mid \tau(10n) \mid f(3^k\cdot n)$, hence $f(3^k\cdot n)$ must be composite. Conversely, by letting the prime factors of $n$ only be $2$ and $5$, we may easily control $a,b$ such that $f(n)$ is any odd composite number.
These two cases cover all possible values of $n$, showing that evens and odd composites are always possible but odd primes are not, so we're done. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by IAmTheHazard, Jun 7, 2021, 1:04 PM
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cmsgr8er
434 posts
#8 • 1 Y
Y by Marshall_Huang
The answer is all evens and odd composites. Let $n=2^{k_1} \cdot 3^m\cdot 5^{k_2} \cdot \prod p_i^{e_i} \prod q_i^{k_i}$ where all $p_i \equiv 1 \pmod 3$ and all $q_i \equiv 2 \pmod 3$ and $m\ge 0.$

Claim: $\tau_1(10n)$ must be of the form:
$$\tau_1(10n) = \begin{cases} \frac{1}{2}\prod(e_i+1)\left(\prod (k_i+1) + 1\right) & \text{all }k_i \equiv 0 \pmod 2  \\ \frac{1}{2}\prod(e_i+1)\prod (k_i+1) & \text{else}\end{cases}$$Proof. Note that a divisor $d\mid 10n$ is $1\pmod 3$ iff it is the product of an even number of $2,5,q_i,$ counting multiplicity. As a result, consider the generating function
$$f(X) = \prod_{i=1}\sum_{j=0}^{k_i} X^j.$$Then the number of such $d\equiv 1 \pmod 3$ is the sum of coefficients of all even power of $X$ in $f(X).$ In particular,
$$\tau_1(10n) = \frac 12\prod(e_i+1)(f(1) + f(-1)) = \begin{cases} \frac{1}{2}\prod(e_i+1)(\prod (k_i+1) + 1) & \text{all }k_i \equiv 0 \pmod 2  \\ \frac{1}{2}\prod(e_i+1)\prod (k_i+1) & \text{else}\end{cases},$$Proving the claim. $\blacksquare$

Then, if all $k_i \equiv 0 \pmod 2,$
$$\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)} = \frac{2(m+1)\prod (e_i+1) \prod (k_i+1)}{\prod (e_i+1)(\prod (k_i+1) + 1)} = \frac{2(m+1)\prod (k_i+1)}{(\prod (k_i+1)+1)} = \frac{2x(m+1)}{x+1},$$Where since $k_1, k_2 \ge 1$ and $k_i$ are all even, $x$ can be any composite odd integer by considering its prime factorization. In particular, denoting $x = 2z+1$ and setting $m = z,$
$$\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)} = 2z+1 = x,$$So all odd composite integers are possible. If not all $k_i\equiv 0\pmod 2,$ then
$$\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)} = \frac{2(m+1)\prod (e_i+1) \prod (k_i+1)}{\prod (e_i+1)\prod (k_i+1)} = 2(m+1),$$Whence all evens are possible, finishing the problem. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by cmsgr8er, Jul 6, 2021, 10:08 PM
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awesomeming327.
1664 posts
#9 • 1 Y
Y by Marshall_Huang
Let $x=3^p \cdot a\cdot b$ where \[a=p_1^{a_1}p_2^{a_2}p_3^{a_3}\dots p_i^{a_i}\]where $p_k$ are distinct primes equivalent to $2\pmod 3$ in the prime factorization of $x.$ Similarly, define \[b=q_1^{b_1}q_2^{b_2}q_3^{b_3}\dots q_j^{b_j}\]where $q_k$ are distinct primes equivalent to $1 \pmod 3.$ Now, \[\tau(x)=(p+1)(a_1+1)(a_2+1)\dots(a_i+1)(b_1+1)(b_2+1)\dots(b_j+1).\]When picking a divisor that is equivalent to $1\pmod 3,$ we cannot pick any factors of three. We must pick an even number of prime divisors of $a$ (accounting for multiplicity) and we can pick any prime divisors of $b.$ Thus, $\frac{\tau(x)}{\tau_1(x)}=(p+1)\frac{\tau(a)}{\tau_1(a)}.$ In particular if a number $r$ is a possible value, any multiple of $r$ is always a possible value.

$~$
Choosing an even number of prime divisors with $2\pmod 3,$ if we have any $a_k$ being odd, there are an even number of choices for the number of factors of $p_k.$ Thus, no matter how we pick the other prime factors, there will always be half of the ways to pick the number of $p_k,$ so $\frac{\tau(a)}{\tau_1(a)}=2$ in this case. Thus, all evens work.

$~$
Now consider $\frac{\tau(a)}{\tau_1(a)}$ where $a$ is a perfect square. In this case, our previous argument does not work. However, we know that $a$ is odd and $\tau_1(a)$ is an integer, so any multiple of $\frac{\tau(a)}{\tau_1(a)}$ is a possible value. In particular, $\frac{\tau(a)}{\tau_1(a)}\cdot \tau_1(a)=\tau(a)$ is a possible value. Since $a$ has at least two distinct prime divisors, there are at least two nontrivial factors contributing to $\tau(a)$ so $\tau(a)$ is any odd composite. Therefore, our answer is all evens and odd composite numbers.
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NotaNumberTheorist
1 post
#10 • 2 Y
Y by A-zeal-for-olympiads, Marshall_Huang
The first thing I did when I found this problem was to find if $ \tau_1 $ was a multiplicative function as that is the first thing you'd do in any textbook about arithmetic functions. Unfortunately I quickly found that it is in fact not multiplicative but has a property that I'll call $\mod 3 \text{ } multiplicative $. Given any integer $n$ we may write $n = X Y Z$ where $X$ is either 1 or a product of primes $p \equiv 1 \mod 3$, $Y$ is either 1 or a product of primes $p \equiv 2 \mod 3$ and $Z$ is either $1$ or a product of primes $p \equiv 3 \mod 3$. With this in mind we can prove:

\[ \textbf{Lemma 1: } \tau_1(XYZ) = \tau_1(X) \tau_1(Y) \tau_1(Z)  \]
Let's first prove that $\tau_1(XYZ) = \tau_1(XY) \tau_1(Z)$. Because $Z$ is either 1 or a power of 3 we have that $\tau_1(Z) = 1$. Hence what we want to prove is that $\tau_1(XYZ) = \tau_1(XY)$. This is true because if $d$ is a divisor counted on the left hand side it can't be a multiple of 3 so it would also be a divisor counted in the right hand side. Now we have to prove that $\tau_1(XY) = \tau_1(X) \tau_1(Y)$. This is also true because if $d$ is a divisor on the left hand side then we can also decompose $d = X' Y'$ where both $X' \equiv 1\mod 3$ and $Y' \equiv 1 \mod 3$ and vice-versa so the number of possible $d's$ is equivalent to the number of posible $X''s$ multiplied by the number of possible $Y''s$ so our lemma is proved.

It is also simple to see that because $\tau$ itself is multiplicative, we also have $\tau(XYZ) = \tau(X) \tau(Y) \tau(Z)$. So we would have:
\[ \frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_1(n)}  = \frac{\tau(X) \tau(Y) \tau(Z)}{ \tau_1(X) \tau_1(Y) \tau_1(Z)}\]
We can simplify this by noting as before that $\tau_1(Z) = 1$ so it vanishes, but also $\tau_1(X) = \tau(X)$. This is because all divisors of $X$ are $1 \mod 3$. So now we are left with:
\[ \frac{\tau(Y) \tau(Z)}{\tau_1(Y)} \]
We are now fully equipped to find some solutions. Let's first calculate the case of $10$ in which $X = 1$, $Y = 10$ and $Z=1$. By computation we have that $\frac{\tau(10)}{\tau_1(10)} = \frac{4}{2} = 2 $. So 2 is a solution but if we add to this $Z = 3^n$ we would be able to generate $2(n+1)$ hence our first observation is that all even numbers are solutions. Now consider the case of $2^a 5^b 3^{\tau_1 (2^a 5^b) - 1}$. If we evaluate our fraction on this the result would be just $\tau(2^a 5^b) = (a+1)(b+1)$. Here we can play with any values of $a$ and $b$ as long as they are both atleast one (we are forced to have a factor of 10). This would actually generate all composite numbers so our solution is updated to $2$ and all composite numbers.

We will now conjecture that these are all possible solutions. In other words, our fraction can never be an odd prime. To do this I want to prove that always either $\tau_1(Y) = \frac{\tau(Y)}{2}$ or $(\tau_1(Y),\tau(Y)) = 1$. If we had the first case the result of our fraction would be $2 \tau(Z)$ so it would never generate odd primes. If we had the second case then to make the fraction an integer, all factors of $\tau_1(Y)$ would need to cancel with $\tau(Z)$ so we would end up with some integer multiple of $\tau(Y)$ and we already saw that this is never prime.

To prove that this is true we will now prove
\[ \textbf{Lemma 2: } \tau_1(Y) = \lceil \frac{\tau(Y)}{2} \rceil  \]
I found a fun way to prove this. First, remember that $Y$ has only primes that are $2 \mod 3$. We can associate any $Y$ to a matrix by decomposing $Y = p_1^{a_1} p_2^{a_2}...$ and then defining:
\[ Y \to \left( \begin{matrix}
p_1^0 & p_2^0 & ...\\
p_1^1 & p_2^1 & ... \\
... & ... & ... \\ 
... & p_2^{a_2} & ... \\
... & ... & ... \\
p_1^{a_1} & 0 & ...
\end{matrix} \right)  \]
So the idea is to create columns with all the prime powers of a certain prime and then we concatenate those prime columns to form a matrix. If a certain column is bigger than others (the power of a certain prime is bigger than the power of other primes) then we just fill with $0$ in that row for other columns. Just as a quick example suppose that $Y=2^3 5^2 11$, then the associated matrix would be:

\[ \left( \begin{matrix}
1 & 1 & 1 \\
2 & 5 & 11 \\
4 & 25 & 0 \\
8 & 0 & 0
\end{matrix} \right)  \]
If the number has no prime factors then we would say that $M$ just contains a single $1$.

For each of these matrices $M$ we will define the operation $|M|$ as the amount of ways of picking one non-zero element from each column and then multiplyign them. So for the matrix above $|M| = 4 \times 3 \times 2 = 24$. It is easy to see that $\tau(Y) = |M|$. Then we will define $|M|_1$ as the amount of ways to pick one non-zero element from each column, multiplying them, and then having the result be congruent to $1 \mod 3$. It is also easy to see that $|M|_1 = \tau_1(Y)$. Given that all we care about is the result of the products $\mod 3$ we can also just apply $\mod 3$ to the matrices so we only have $1's$, $-1's$, and $0's$.

We will now prove the formula $|M|_1 = \lceil \frac{|M|}{2} \rceil$ by induction on $|M|$. Consider the base case $|M| = 2$. Necessarily the matrix comes from a number of the form $p$ and in this case $|M| = 2$ and $|M|_1 = 1$. This result fits our hypothesis. Lets now consider a matrix with an arbitrary size $|M|$. If this is a column matrix then it would come from a number of the form $p^k$ in which case $|M| = k+1$ and $|M|_1 = \lceil \frac{k+1}{2} \rceil$. This is true because all even $k$ in $p^{k}$ would count for $|M|_1$ and to get the amount of even $k$ we would use the previous formula. So in the case of column matrices the result holds true. In the case that we don't have a column matrix then we may pick one prime that divides $Y$ and then write $M$ as:

\[M =  \left( \begin{matrix}
1 & &  \\
-1 & M' &  \\
1 &  &  \\
... & & 
\end{matrix} \right)  \]
In simpler terms, we would have the column and a submatrix $M'$ to the right. To calculate $|M|_1$ notice that we can iterate through the numbers in the first column and then for each $1$ in the column it would add a $|M'|_1$ because we can take all of the products in $M'$ that are equivalent to $1 \mod 3$ and then just multiply it by the $1$ we have in the column and we would generate a number equivalent to $1 \mod 3$. Then for each $-1$ in the column we would find the products in $M'$ that are equivalent to $-1 \mod 3$. But now if we have those products that are equivalent to $-1$ and before we had all the products that were equivalent to $1$ we would have all the non-zero products and hence those two would add up to $|M'|$.

So in the first column for each pair of $1$ and $-1$ we add a $|M'|_1$. Suppose that the number of elements in that first column is $n$. If $n$ is even then there are the same amount of 1's and -1's and hence the result would be $|M|_1 = \frac{n|M'|}{2}$. But we can also calculate $|M| = n |M'|$ and this result is also consistent with our hypothesis.

The harder case is when $n$ is odd. In this case we would have $|M|_1 = \frac{|M'|(n-1)}{2} + |M'|_1$ but again $|M| = n|M'|$. Applying our induction hypothesis on $M'$ we now want to prove that:

\[\frac{|M'|(n-1)}{2} + \lceil \frac{|M'|}{2} \rceil = \lceil \frac{n|M'|}{2} \rceil  \]
We will prove this the classic way by finding that $LHS \geq \frac{n|M'|}{2}$ but $LHS \leq \frac{n|M'|}{2} + 1$

The first one is easy because $LHS = \frac{|M'|(n-1)}{2} + \lceil \frac{|M'|}{2} \rceil \geq \frac{|M'|(n-1)}{2} + \frac{|M'|}{2}  = \frac{|M'|(n)}{2} $. For the second one we have to work a little more. To prove that $\frac{|M'|(n-1)}{2} + \lceil \frac{|M'|}{2} \rceil \leq \frac{|M'|(n)}{2} + 1$ we can simplify this to $\lceil \frac{|M'|}{2} \rceil - \frac{|M'|}{2} \leq 1$ which is a well known inequality. Hence the result is proved.

And if we untangle all the matrix notation and go back to the natural world, this proves our second lemma.

Equipped with our second lemma, we have $\tau_1(Y) = \lceil \frac{\tau(Y)}{2} \rceil$. In the case when $\tau(Y)$ is even this is an exact fraction and by doing some algebra we find that the fraction is a product of two. Again, this will not produce odd primes. In the case that $\tau(Y)$ is odd we would have $\tau_1(Y) = \frac{\tau(Y) + 1}{2}$. We can now prove that $(\tau(Y),\tau_1(Y)) = 1$ because of a number $d$ divides both things, then it must also divide $2 \tau_1(Y) - \tau(Y) = 1$ and hence $d = 1$. Given that those two are coprime, we have proven that we can never generate odd primes.

Tying this all up we also can find a general formula for $\tau_1(n)$. If $n = X Y Z$ as defined above then:
\[ \tau_1(n) = \tau(X) \lceil \frac{\tau(Y)}{2} \rceil \]
Which means that given the prime factorization of $n$ we could easily compute $\tau_1(n)$ without needing to actually count all such divisors.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by NotaNumberTheorist, Jun 26, 2022, 7:43 PM
Reason: Added final observation
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ALM_04
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#11 • 5 Y
Y by A-zeal-for-olympiads, Mango247, Mango247, Mango247, Marshall_Huang
:noo:

Solution
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EthanWYX2009
824 posts
#12 • 2 Y
Y by mathmax12, Marshall_Huang
对于 $m\in\mathbb N_+$,$m=3^x\prod\limits_{i}p_i^{a_i}\prod\limits_{j=1}^kq_j^{b_j}$, 其中 $p_i\equiv 1\pmod 3$ 且为素数, $q_j\equiv 2\pmod 3$ 且为素数.
${}d$${m}$ $\mod 3$${}{1}$ 正因子当且仅当 $d=\prod\limits_{i}p_i^{c_i}\prod\limits_{j=1}^kq_j^{d_j}$. 其中 $0\leq c_i\leq a_i$, $0\leq d_j\leq b_j$.$2\mid \sum\limits_{j=1}^kd_j$.
从而 $\tau_1(n)=\prod\limits_{i}(a_i+1)\cdot\left|\left\{(d_1,d_2,\cdots,d_k)\in\mathbb Z_+\mid 0\leq d_i\leq b_i,\sum\limits_{j=1}^kd_j\equiv 0\pmod 2\right\}\right|$.
不难证明 $\left|\left\{(d_1,d_2,\cdots,d_k)\in\mathbb Z_+\mid 0\leq d_i\leq b_i,\sum\limits_{j=1}^kd_j\equiv 0\pmod 2\right\}\right|=\left\lceil\frac 12\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)\right\rceil$.
从而 $Q\overset{\Delta}{=}\frac{\tau(m)}{\tau_1(m)}=\dfrac{(x+1)\prod\limits_{i}(a_i+1)\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)}{\prod\limits_{i}(a_i+1)\left\lceil\dfrac 12\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)\right\rceil}=\dfrac{(x+1)\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)}{\left\lceil\dfrac 12\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)\right\rceil}$.
原题中考虑 $m=10n$ 的情形, 则 ${m}$ $\mod 3$${}{1}$ 正因子至少有 ${}{2}$, ${}{5}$ 两个, 即 $k\geq 2$.
$\exists b_j\equiv 1\pmod 2$,$Q=2(x+1)$, $x\in\mathbb N$, 故可遍全体偶数.
若所有 $b_j$ 均为偶数, 则 $Q=\dfrac{2(x+1)\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)}{\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)+1}$. 要求 $Q\in\mathbb Z$, $\left(\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)+1\right)\mid 2(x+1)$.
结合 $k\geq 2$, $Q=\dfrac{2(x+1)}{\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)+1}\prod\limits_{j=1}^k(b_j+1)$ 可取遍全体奇合数.
综上所述, $\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}$ 可取到的整数值为全体偶数以及全体奇合数.$\blacksquare$
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egxa
184 posts
#13 • 1 Y
Y by Marshall_Huang
Answer: All composite numbers and $2$
Proof: Let $10n=3^a\cdot\prod_{i=1}^{r_1}p_i^{\alpha_i}\cdot\prod_{i=1}^{r_2}q_i^{\beta_i}$ where all $p_i$ equivalent 2 $mod3$ and all $q_i$ equivalent 1 $mod3$
And let $\prod_{i=1}^{r_1}p_i^{\alpha_i}=a$
Easy to see $\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}=\frac{(a+1).\prod_{i=1}^{r_1}(a_i + 1)}{\tau_1(a)}$ for all a is positive integer or $0$ so we can take $a=\tau_1(a)-1$ so we have proof for all composite numbers. If $n=1$ we have the answer $2$
If $a$ isn't a square ve have one prime factor powered by odd number and If we choose other powers random and accordingly the power of this prime number we will see that $\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}=2.(a+1)$ and it covers all even numbers.
Other case is all powers of $p_i$ are even. And from here we can see that $\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}=\frac{(a+1).\prod_{i=1}^{r_1}(a_i + 1)}{\prod_{i=1}^{r_1}(a_i + 1)+1}$ So rest of the solution is easy for equality don't works for prime $p\ge 3$
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john0512
4170 posts
#14 • 1 Y
Y by Marshall_Huang
We claim that the answer is even numbers and odd composite numbers.

Let $m=10n$.

Note that 1 mod 3 prime factors do not matter at all, since they give the same multiplier to top and bottom.

To obtain even values, start with 10, which gives a value of 2, and then add as many factors of 3 as necessary to get the required multiplier to reach even numbers.

Now, consider odd values. Clearly, $m$ has to be a perfect square. Then, let $v_3(m)=s-1$, and let $$\frac{m}{3^{s-1}}=p_1^{2e_1}\cdots p_k^{2e_k}.$$
Claim: $$\tau_1(m)=\frac{(2e_1+1)\cdots (2e_k+1)+1}{2}.$$
Proof: Use generating functions!

We need an even number of 2 mod 3 factors, so we want to the sum of even degree coefficents in $$(e_1+1+e_1x)(e_2+1+e_2x)\cdots (e_k+1+e_kx).$$Plugging in $1$ and $-1$ gives the desired claim.

Thus, the value of the expression is $$\frac{2cs}{c+1},$$where $$c=(2e_1+1)\cdots (2e_k+1),$$since $m$ has $cs$ divisors. Note that since $m$ is divisible by 10, the possible values of $c$ are precisely the odd composite numbers (since $k\geq 2$).

Suppose we want the value to be $v$. Then, $$\frac{2cs}{c+1}=v$$$$c=\frac{v}{2s-v}.$$If $v$ is prime, the only way for it to be an integer is for either $c=1$ or $c=v$, neither of which are possible due to the fact that $c$ is an odd composite number. On the other hand, if $v$ is composite, then $2s=v+1$ (possible since $v$ odd) would give $c=v$, which is possible.

Hence, the answer is even numbers and odd composites.
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asdf334
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#15 • 1 Y
Y by Marshall_Huang
Consider $n\equiv 0\pmod 3$. Let
\[r(n)=\frac{\tau_1(10n)}{\tau(10n)}.\]let $S$ be the set of possible values of $r(n)$. Essentially if $d$ occurs as a denominator in some reduced fraction in $S$ then by taking $n\cdot 3^k$ we can get any multiple of $d$.
Now if $n$ is not a perfect square then $\frac{1}{2}$ appears. Otherwise use recursion to calculate the denominator; the number of prime factors cannot decrease and yet is at least two upon considering just two prime factors of $n$, thus primes are impossible. We can easily construct $pq$ and $p^2$, hence done. (The answer is anything except for odd primes and $1$.)
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NicoN9
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#16
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If I did solve it right, This is actually equal to $2v_{3}(n)+2$.
This post has been edited 4 times. Last edited by NicoN9, Nov 7, 2024, 11:47 AM
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SimplisticFormulas
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#17
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We claim that $\frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_{1}(n)}=2k, \forall k \in \mathbb{N}$ covers all the positive integral values.

First, let $n=3^{\alpha}, \alpha \in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 0}$
$\implies \frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_{1}(n)}= \frac{\tau(2 \cdot 5 \cdot 3^{\alpha})}{\tau_{1}(2 \cdot 5 \cdot 3^{\alpha})}=\frac{4(\alpha +1)}{2}= 2(\alpha +1))$

Now, we show that for any $n$, the value of $\frac{\tau(n)}{\tau_{1}(n)}=2k$.

Let $n=3^{\alpha} k$, where $\alpha \in \mathbb{N}$ and gcd($3,k$)=$1$.
Observe that $\tau(10n)=\tau(3^{\alpha})\tau(10k)=(\alpha +1)\tau(10k)$
and $\tau_{1}(10n)=\tau_{1}(10k)$.

Thus, we need to show the result only for $n$ with gcd($n,3$)=1

Now, we use induction to show that $\frac{\tau(10k)}{\tau_{1}(10k)}=2$ where $3$ and $k$ are coprime.

Base case: This clearly is true for $k=1$.

Induction: Say that for some positive integral $k$, $\frac{\tau(10k)}{\tau_{1}(10k)}=2$ where $3$ and $k$ are coprime.
Take a prime $p \neq 3$.
Let $ 1=d_{1}<d_{2}<…<d_{l}=10k$ be the divisors of $10k$.
Not that the divisors of $10kp$ are
$$ 1=d_{1}<d_{2}<…<d_{l}=10k$$and $$ p=pd_{1}<pd_{2}<…<pd_{l}=10kp$$.

If $p \equiv 1(\mod 3)$, then
$d_{i} \equiv 1 (\mod 3) \implies pd_{i} \equiv 1 (\mod 3)$ and
$d_{i} \equiv 2 (\mod 3) \implies pd_{i} \equiv 2 (\mod 3) $.
Since half of the numbers $ 1=d_{1}<d_{2}<…<d_{l}=10k$ are $1(\mod 3)$, half of the numbers $ p=pd_{1}<pd_{2}<…<pd_{l}=10kp$
are $1(\mod 3)$, which gives us that half of the divisors of $10kp$ are of the for $1(\mod 3)$, hence the induction is true for this case.

If $p\equiv 2(\mod 3)$, then
$d_{i} \equiv 1 (\mod 3) \implies pd_{i} \equiv 2 (\mod 3)$ and
$d_{i} \equiv 2 (\mod 3) \implies pd_{i} \equiv 1 (\mod 3)$
Therefore, half of the divisors of $10kp$ are of the for $1(\mod 3)$, hence the induction is true for this case as well, which completes the induction. $\blacksquare$
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Maximilian113
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#18
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I claim that $f(n)=\frac{\tau(10n)}{\tau_1(10n)}$ can attain all positive integral values except $1$ and odd primes. First of all, it is clear that $f$ cannot attain $1$ as the divisor $2$ is not included in the count for $\tau_1(10n).$

Now, letting $n=1$ yields $f(n)=2,$ so $2$ is attainable.

Meanwhile, observe that $\tau_1(3^ka)=\tau_1(3^k)$ for any positive integers $k.$ Therefore, taking some composite number $m=ab$ for positive integers $a, b \geq 2,$ if $n=2^{a-2}5^{b-2}3^{\tau_1 \left(2^{a-2}5^{b-2} \right)-1}$ then we get $$f(n) = \frac{ab \cdot \tau_1 \left(2^{a-2}5^{b-2} \right)}{\tau_1 \left(2^{a-2}5^{b-2} \right)} = ab.$$Hence $f(n)$ can yield any composite value.

It suffices to show that $f(n)$ cannot attain any odd primes. Let $10n=AB3^r$ where $A, B, r$ are positive integers with $A$s prime factorization only consisting of primes that are $1 \pmod 3,$ and $B$s prime factorization consisting only of primes that are $2 \pmod 3.$ Then $B \geq 10,$ while obviously $f(AB3^r)=(r+1)f(B).$ If $B$ is not a perfect square there is some prime power $p^k | B$ with $k$ maximized such that $k$ is odd, then for any factor $k$ of $B$ that is $1 \pmod 3,$ with $p^\ell$ dividing it with $\ell \in \mathbb N,$ it is possible to correspond $k$ with $k/p$ or $kp$ if $\ell$ is odd or even respectively, making $\tau_1(B)=\frac12 \tau(B),$ so $f(B)$ is always even.

Now, suppose that $B$ is a perfect square. Then we can do a similar correspondence as above, but some corresponded factors are not counted in $\tau(B).$ This yields $\tau_1(B) < \tau(B) < 2 \tau_1(B),$ so $\tau_1(B)$ cannot possibly divide $\tau(B).$ But, $2, 5$ always divide $B$ so $\tau(B)$ is always composite. This makes $f(B)$s numerator in reduced form always composite, meaning that if $f(n)=(r+1)f(B)$ is an integer it cannot be an odd prime.

Thus we have shown that only even numbers and composite numbers are attainable.
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