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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.

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[*]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
Classic Diophantine
Adywastaken   1
N 2 minutes ago by Adywastaken
Source: NMTC 2024/6
Find all natural number solutions to $3^x-5^y=z^2$.
1 reply
Adywastaken
an hour ago
Adywastaken
2 minutes ago
GEOMETRY GEOMETRY GEOMETRY
Kagebaka   71
N 2 minutes ago by bin_sherlo
Source: IMO 2021/3
Let $D$ be an interior point of the acute triangle $ABC$ with $AB > AC$ so that $\angle DAB = \angle CAD.$ The point $E$ on the segment $AC$ satisfies $\angle ADE =\angle BCD,$ the point $F$ on the segment $AB$ satisfies $\angle FDA =\angle DBC,$ and the point $X$ on the line $AC$ satisfies $CX = BX.$ Let $O_1$ and $O_2$ be the circumcenters of the triangles $ADC$ and $EXD,$ respectively. Prove that the lines $BC, EF,$ and $O_1O_2$ are concurrent.
71 replies
1 viewing
Kagebaka
Jul 20, 2021
bin_sherlo
2 minutes ago
Kosovo Math Olympiad 2019
dangerousliri   15
N 4 minutes ago by Bardia7003
Source: Kosovo MO 2019 Grade 11, Problem 4
Find all functions $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ such that:
$$f(xy+f(x))=xf(y)$$for all $x,y\in\mathbb{R}$.
15 replies
dangerousliri
Mar 2, 2019
Bardia7003
4 minutes ago
Equation of integers
jgnr   3
N 22 minutes ago by KTYC
Source: Indonesia Mathematics Olympiad 2005 Day 1 Problem 2
For an arbitrary positive integer $ n$, define $ p(n)$ as the product of the digits of $ n$ (in decimal). Find all positive integers $ n$ such that $ 11p(n)=n^2-2005$.
3 replies
jgnr
Jun 2, 2008
KTYC
22 minutes ago
Divisibility..
Sadigly   4
N 23 minutes ago by Solar Plexsus
Source: Azerbaijan Junior MO 2025 P2
Find all $4$ consecutive even numbers, such that the square of their product is divisible by the sum of their squares.
4 replies
Sadigly
Yesterday at 7:37 AM
Solar Plexsus
23 minutes ago
Surjective number theoretic functional equation
snap7822   3
N 32 minutes ago by internationalnick123456
Source: 2025 Taiwan TST Round 3 Independent Study 2-N
Let $f:\mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ be a function satisfying the following conditions:
[list=i]
[*] For all $m, n \in \mathbb{N}$, if $m > n$ and $f(m) > f(n)$, then $f(m-n) = f(n)$;
[*] $f$ is surjective.
[/list]
Find the maximum possible value of $f(2025)$.

Proposed by snap7822
3 replies
snap7822
May 1, 2025
internationalnick123456
32 minutes ago
FE with devisibility
fadhool   0
35 minutes ago
if when i solve an fe that is defined in the set of positive integer i found m|f(m) can i set f(m) =km such that k is not constant and of course it depends on m but after some work i find k=c st c is constant is this correct
0 replies
fadhool
35 minutes ago
0 replies
Many Equal Sides
mathisreal   3
N 37 minutes ago by QueenArwen
Source: Brazil EGMO TST 2023 #1
Let $ABC$ be a triangle with $BA=BC$ and $\angle ABC=90^{\circ}$. Let $D$ and $E$ be the midpoints of $CA$ and $BA$ respectively. The point $F$ is inside of $\triangle ABC$ such that $\triangle DEF$ is equilateral. Let $X=BF\cap AC$ and $Y=AF\cap DB$. Prove that $DX=YD$.
3 replies
mathisreal
Nov 10, 2022
QueenArwen
37 minutes ago
LOTS of recurrence!
SatisfiedMagma   4
N 40 minutes ago by Reacheddreams
Source: Indian Statistical Institute Entrance UGB 2023/5
There is a rectangular plot of size $1 \times n$. This has to be covered by three types of tiles - red, blue and black. The red tiles are of size $1 \times 1$, the blue tiles are of size $1 \times 1$ and the black tiles are of size $1 \times 2$. Let $t_n$ denote the number of ways this can be done. For example, clearly $t_1 = 2$ because we can have either a red or a blue tile. Also $t_2 = 5$ since we could have tiled the plot as: two red tiles, two blue tiles, a red tile on the left and a blue tile on the right, a blue tile on the left and a red tile on the right, or a single black tile.

[list=a]
[*]Prove that $t_{2n+1} = t_n(t_{n-1} + t_{n+1})$ for all $n > 1$.

[*]Prove that $t_n = \sum_{d \ge 0} \binom{n-d}{d}2^{n-2d}$ for all $n >0$.
[/list]
Here,
\[ \binom{m}{r} = \begin{cases}
\dfrac{m!}{r!(m-r)!}, &\text{ if $0 \le r \le m$,} \\
0, &\text{ otherwise}
\end{cases}\]for integers $m,r$.
4 replies
SatisfiedMagma
May 14, 2023
Reacheddreams
40 minutes ago
combi/nt
blug   1
N 42 minutes ago by blug
Prove that every positive integer $n$ can be written in the form
$$n=a_1+a_2+...+a_k,$$where $a_m=2^i3^j$ for some non-negative $i, j$ such that
$$a_x\nmid a_y$$for every $x, y\leq k$.
1 reply
blug
Yesterday at 3:37 PM
blug
42 minutes ago
Inequality, inequality, inequality...
Assassino9931   9
N an hour ago by ZeroHero
Source: Al-Khwarizmi Junior International Olympiad 2025 P6
Let $a,b,c$ be real numbers such that \[ab^2+bc^2+ca^2=6\sqrt{3}+ac^2+cb^2+ba^2.\]Find the smallest possible value of $a^2 + b^2 + c^2$.

Binh Luan and Nhan Xet, Vietnam
9 replies
Assassino9931
Today at 9:38 AM
ZeroHero
an hour ago
Vectors in a tilted square
mathwizard888   20
N an hour ago by HamstPan38825
Source: 2016 IMO Shortlist A3
Find all positive integers $n$ such that the following statement holds: Suppose real numbers $a_1$, $a_2$, $\dots$, $a_n$, $b_1$, $b_2$, $\dots$, $b_n$ satisfy $|a_k|+|b_k|=1$ for all $k=1,\dots,n$. Then there exists $\varepsilon_1$, $\varepsilon_2$, $\dots$, $\varepsilon_n$, each of which is either $-1$ or $1$, such that
\[ \left| \sum_{i=1}^n \varepsilon_i a_i \right| + \left| \sum_{i=1}^n \varepsilon_i b_i \right| \le 1. \]
20 replies
1 viewing
mathwizard888
Jul 19, 2017
HamstPan38825
an hour ago
Combi Geo
Adywastaken   0
an hour ago
Source: NMTC 2024/8
A regular polygon with $100$ vertices is given. To each vertex, a natural number from the set $\{1,2,\dots,49\}$ is assigned. Prove that there are $4$ vertices $A, B, C, D$ such that if the numbers $a, b, c, d$ are assigned to them respectively, then $a+b=c+d$ and $ABCD$ is a parallelogram.
0 replies
Adywastaken
an hour ago
0 replies
Japan MO Finals 2023
parkjungmin   1
N an hour ago by EvansGressfield
It's hard. Help me
1 reply
parkjungmin
Yesterday at 2:35 PM
EvansGressfield
an hour ago
IMO ShortList 2008, Number Theory problem 4
April   20
N Apr 18, 2025 by megarnie
Source: IMO ShortList 2008, Number Theory problem 4
Let $ n$ be a positive integer. Show that the numbers
\[ \binom{2^n - 1}{0},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{1},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2},\; \ldots,\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2^{n - 1} - 1}\]
are congruent modulo $ 2^n$ to $ 1$, $ 3$, $ 5$, $ \ldots$, $ 2^n - 1$ in some order.

Proposed by Duskan Dukic, Serbia
20 replies
April
Jul 9, 2009
megarnie
Apr 18, 2025
IMO ShortList 2008, Number Theory problem 4
G H J
Source: IMO ShortList 2008, Number Theory problem 4
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April
1270 posts
#1 • 4 Y
Y by narutomath96, Amir Hossein, Adventure10, Mango247
Let $ n$ be a positive integer. Show that the numbers
\[ \binom{2^n - 1}{0},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{1},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2},\; \ldots,\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2^{n - 1} - 1}\]
are congruent modulo $ 2^n$ to $ 1$, $ 3$, $ 5$, $ \ldots$, $ 2^n - 1$ in some order.

Proposed by Duskan Dukic, Serbia
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daniel73
253 posts
#2 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
You may just as well consider the remainders of $ \binom{2^n-1}{2k}$ for $ k=0,1,2,\dots,2^{n-1}-1$, and now,

Hint 1:
Click to reveal hidden text

Hint 2:
Click to reveal hidden text
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hxy09
602 posts
#3 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
induction on $ n$
and we prove the srtonger assertion:
$ \binom{2^{n}-1}{i}-\binom{2^{n}-1}{j}$ is not a multiple of $ 2^n$ for every $ (i,j)$ satisfies$ 1\le i<j \le 2^{n-1}-1$
and $ \binom{2^{n}-1}{i}+\binom{2^{n}-1}{j}$ is not a multiple of $ 2^{n+1}$ for every $ (i,j)$ satisfies$ 1\le i<j \le 2^{n-1}-1$
And I will post the full solution below(very sorry for being written in Chinese,I am glad to explain if anyone has questions) :)
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hxy09
602 posts
#4 • 3 Y
Y by narutomath96, Adventure10, Mango247
I am grateful if anyone can point out my mistakes or flaws :)
Attachments:
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Albanian Eagle
1693 posts
#5 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
I solved it by proving

$ 1\le a\le b\le 2^{n-1}-1 \implies$
$ \prod_{x=a}^b \frac{2^n-x}{x}$ is not $ \equiv 1\pmod{2^n}$ and not $ \equiv -1\pmod{2^{n+1}}$
which is almost trivial by induction.
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peregrinefalcon88
299 posts
#6 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Let us note that $\binom{2^{n}-1}{k} = \prod_{j = 1}^{k}\frac{2^n-j}{j}$. Now, let us define the function F(n) = $\{ k \in \mathbb{Z} | 2^k | n, 2^{k+1} \nmid n\}$. We can see that F($2^n$-j) = F(j). From this we can see that $\binom{2^{n}-1}{k} \equiv 1$ mod $2$ $\forall$ $0 \le k \le 2^{n-1}-1$. We can also see that $F(j) \le 2^{n-2}$ since $j \le 2^{n-1}-1$. From this we can see that $\frac{2^n-j}{j} \equiv 3$ mod $4$. Now we notice that $\binom{2^n-2j}{2j} \equiv 1$ mod $4$ and $\binom{2^n-2j-1}{2j+1} \equiv 3$ mod $4$. Thus we now need only to show that $\binom{2^n-2j}{2j} \not\equiv \binom{2^n-2t}{2t}$ mod $2^n $ and $\binom{2^n-2j-1}{2j+1} \not\equiv \binom{2^n-2t-1}{2t+1}$ mod $2^n$ $\forall$ $j \neq t, 0 \le j, t \le 2^{n-2}-1$. To prove this we need only to show that $\prod_{j = a}^{b}\frac{2^n-j}{j} \not\equiv 1$ mod $2^n$ $\forall a \not\equiv b$ mod $2$. However, from Vieta's relatoins we can see that $\prod_{j = a}^{b}\frac{2^n-j}{j}$ can be rewritten as $\frac{2^n(2^n(x)+\sum_{j = a}^bj)}{\prod_{j = a}^bj}+1$ for some integer x. So we know want to show that $\frac{2^n(2^n(x)+\sum_{j = a}^bj)}{\prod_{j = a}^bj} \equiv 0$ mod $2^n$. However, we notice that $2^n(x)+\sum_{j = a}^bj$ is odd which means that there cannot be any factors of 2 in the denominator for $\frac{2^n(2^n(x)+\sum_{j = a}^bj)}{\prod_{j = a}^bj} $ to be divisible by $2^n$ and this is contradiction. Thus, the problem is proved.
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CatalystOfNostalgia
1479 posts
#7 • 5 Y
Y by DreamComeTrue, guptaamitu1, Adventure10, Mango247, and 1 other user
A different approach: as $\binom{2^{n}-1}{i}$ is clearly odd, we need to show that $\binom{2^{n}-1}{j}/\binom{2^{n}-1}{i}$ is not 1 modulo $2^{n}$, if $1\le i<j\le 2^{n-1}-1$. We can do this by writing this as the product of $\frac{2^{n}-k}{k}$ for $i+1\le k\le j$. Now, choose $k$ such that $v_{2}(k)=m$ is maximized: it is easy to check that $k$ is unique. From here, after canceling powers of 2, it is easy to see that each term except than the one indexed by $k$ is $-1$ modulo $2^{n-m+1}$, and it is also easy to check that the exceptional one is not $\pm1$. Thus $\binom{2^{n}-1}{j}/\binom{2^{n}-1}{i}$ is not 1 modulo $2^{n-m+1}$, so if $m>0$ certainly it is not 1 modulo $2^{n}$ either. If $m=0$, on the other hand, we only have one factor in the product, so the fraction is equal to $-1$ modulo $2^{n-m+1}$, so we are done in this case as well.
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shivangjindal
676 posts
#8 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
April wrote:
Let $ n$ be a positive integer. Show that the numbers
\[ \binom{2^n - 1}{0},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{1},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2},\; \ldots,\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2^{n - 1} - 1}\]
are congruent modulo $ 2^n$ to $ 1$, $ 3$, $ 5$, $ \ldots$, $ 2^n - 1$ in some order.

Proposed by Duskan Dukic, Serbia

I finally solved it , after trying it since days! .
It is equivalent to show that $\binom{2^n-1}{1},\binom{2^n-1}{3}, \cdots , \binom{2^n-1}{2^{n}-1}$ leaves distinct remainders .
Suppose for the contrary that $\binom{2^n-1}{x} \equiv \binom{2^n-1}{y}\pmod{2^n}$. We can take $x>y$ . Using the binomial identities we get,
$\binom{2^n}{x}-\binom{2^n}{x-1}+\binom{2^n}{x-2}+\cdots-\binom{2^n}{y+1} \equiv 0 \pmod{2^n}$.
Now , since there are powers of $2$ , it is handy to use kummer's theorem . we will find $v_2{\binom{2^n}{k}}$ .
Suppose that $v_2(k)=q$ then using kummer';s theorem we get $v_2{\binom{2^n}{k}} = n-q$ . Note that , if k is odd then $q=0$. Thus , in this case $2^n$ will divide $\binom{2^n}{k}$ .
So we have to only check the sum $k$ which are even.
Also we note that if $k$ is even then $v_2{\binom{2^n}{k}} < n$ . Now , we choose a $k=a$ such that $v_2{\binom{2^n}{a}}=w$ is minimal. Then we will be able to take $2^w$ common , and the left term will be odd . so there will be a term where $k=b$ such that , $v_2{\binom{2^n}{a}} = v_2{\binom{2^n}{b}}$ . Now from earlier observation we see that , more the $v_2{k}$ less will be $v_2{\binom{2^n}{k}}$ . here we have , $v_2{\binom{2^n}{a}} = v_2{\binom{2^n}{b}} \implies v_2(a)=v_2(b)$. Suppose that $a<b$. Obviously $\exists c$ between $a$ and $b$ such that $v_2(a)<v_2(c)$ . Contradicting the minimality of $v_2{\binom{2^n}{x}}$ . So we are done! $\Box$
^^ Someone please check it , i am not sure it it is correct.
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maths.lover
42 posts
#9 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
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WOuld you please explain what's $v_2{\binom{2^n}{k}}$ ?? I'm dying to understand this, especially kummer's theorem !??
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va2010
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#10 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
Hmm, I'd like to point out a solution without using valuations, for those who don't know it...

All such numbers are odd, which is easy to check.

Lemma 1: $\dbinom{2^n - 1}{2k} + \dbinom{2^n-1}{2k+1} \equiv 2^n \pmod{2^{n+1}}$

Proof: Observe that $\dbinom{2^n - 1}{2k}(1 + \frac{2^n - (2k+1)}{2k+1}) = \dbinom{2^n - 1}{2k}(\frac{2^n}{2k+1}) \equiv 0 \pmod{2^n}$, but it doesn't divide $2^{n+1}$, so it is equivalent to $2^n \pmod{2^{n+1}}$

Claim: $\dbinom{2^n - 1}{4k+3} \equiv \dbinom{2^{n-1}-1}{2k+1} \pmod{2^n}$ for defined values of $k$

Proof: We use induction. Check the result for $k = 0$. Now observe that for $k \rightarrow k+1$, it suffices to show that $\frac{\dbinom{2^n - 1}{4k+7}}{\dbinom{2^n - 1}{4k + 3}} \equiv \frac{\dbinom{2^{n-1} - 1}{2k+3}}{\dbinom{2^{n-1} - 1}{2k+1}} \pmod{2^n}$

Observe that the first product is equivalent to $(\frac{2^n - (4k+7)}{4k+7})(\frac{2^n - (4k+6)}{4k+6})(\frac{2^n - (4k+5)}{4k+5})(\frac{2^n - (4k+4)}{4k+4}) \equiv (-1)^2 (\frac{2^{n-1} - (2k+3)}{2k+3})(\frac{2^{n-1} - (2k+2)}{2k+2}) \equiv \frac{\dbinom{2^{n-1}-1}{2k+3}}{\dbinom{2^{n-1} - 1}{2k+1}} \pmod{2^n} $

Claim: $\dbinom{2^n - 1}{4k} \equiv \dbinom{2^{n-1} - 1}{2k} \pmod{2^n}$:
Proof: Similar to above.

Denote $P_n$ the assertion for $n$. We use induction. The result is true for $n = 1, 2, 3$, and $4$. We prove it for larger values.

So for induction, given $P_n$, observe that each term in $S_n$, the values of the binomial coefficients, are distinct mod $2^n$. When we use the above relations, we obtain a $P_{n+1}$, after using the lemma. How could there be a duplicate in this set? Well, if there is one, it would have to be a number from $S_n$, and then the lemma would produce another value. These two values would somehow be the same if the duplicate occurred. We show that this cannot happen. Observe that this implies that in $S_n$, there are two numbers such that, when summed, give $0 \pmod{2^{n+1}}$. First, the sum is obviously $0 \pmod{2^n}$, which each element in $S_n$ has only one pair for: one of its neighbors. But the sum, as shown, isn't $0 \pmod{2^{n+1}}$, so we are done.
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Zoom
77 posts
#11 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
April wrote:
Proposed by Duskan Dukic, Serbia

Actually his name is Dušan Djukić, or if you don’t have Serbian latin letters, Dusan Djukic is fine.
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rocketscience
466 posts
#12 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
Induct, with base cases trivial. Our inductive hypothesis implies that there exist precisely two solutions $x=m$ and $x=2^{n-1}-1-m$ satisfying $\binom{2^{n-1} - 1}{x} \equiv L \pmod{2^{n-1}}$ for any given odd number $L$. Note that
\[\binom{2^n-1}{2k} = \prod_{i=1}^{2k} \frac{2^n-i}{i} = \left( \prod_{i=1}^{k} \frac{2^{n-1}-i}{i} \right) \left(\prod_{\substack{j=1, \\ j \text{ odd}}}^{2k-1} \frac{2^n-j}{j}\right) = \binom{2^{n-1}-1}{k} \left(\prod_{\substack{j=1, \\ j \text{ odd}}}^{2k-1} \frac{2^n-j}{j}\right).\]We can safely take the left and right ends of this equality modulo $2^n$, whence $\binom{2^n-1}{2k} \equiv (-1)^k\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{k} \pmod{2^n}$. Now suppose that $\binom{2^n-1}{2i} \equiv \binom{2^n-1}{2j} \pmod {2^n}$ so that
\[(-1)^i\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i} \equiv (-1)^j\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{j} \pmod{2^n}.\]Some casework:
  • If $i$ and $j$ are of the same parity, then the above binomial coefficients are also congruent modulo $2^{n-1}$, so by hypothesis either $i=j$ or $i=2^{n-1} -1- j$. Parity forces $i=j$.
  • If $i$ and $j$ are of different parity, we have
    \[\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i} \equiv -\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{j} \pmod{2^n}.  \quad (\heartsuit)\]WLOG $i$ is even. This congruence $(\heartsuit)$ holds modulo $2^{n-1}$, but we can also check that
    \[\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i} \equiv -\frac{2^{n-1}-(i+1)}{i+1} \binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i} = -\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i+1}  \pmod{2^{n-1}}\]\[\implies \binom{2^{n-1}-1}{j} \equiv \binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i+1} \pmod{2^{n-1}}.\]By hypothesis, this forces either $j=i+1$ or $j=2^{n-1}-1-(i+1)$, but $i$ and $j$ have different parity so we must have $j=i+1$. Now examine $(\heartsuit)$. Rewrite the right-side binomial coefficient to get
    \[\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i} \equiv -\frac{2^{n-1}-(i+1)}{i+1} \binom{2^{n-1}-1}{i} \pmod{2^n} \]\[\implies \frac{2^{n-1}-(i+1)}{i+1} \equiv -1 \implies 2^{n-1} \equiv 0 \pmod{2^n},\]which is absurd. So this case is impossible.
The above work shows that $\binom{2^n-1}{2k}$ for $k=0, 1, \dots, 2^{n-1}-1$ are distinct odd numbers modulo $2^n$, which easily converts to the desired claim.
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HKIS200543
380 posts
#13
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Our solution proceeds in two parts. First we show that $\binom{2^n-1}{a}$ is odd for any integer $a$. Then we show that
\[ \binom{2^n-1}{a} \not\equiv \binom{2^n-1}{b} \pmod{2^n} \]for any $0 \leq a < b \leq 2^{n-1}-1$. It is easy to see that these two claims put together give the result.

The first part is rather simple. By Legendre,
\[ \nu_2 \left( \binom{2^n-1}{a} \right) = s_2(a) + s_2(2^{n-1}-1-a) - s_2(2^n-1) \]Since no carries occur, this is just zero.

Most of the problem is in the second part. It suffices to show that
\[ \prod_{k=b+1}^a \frac{2^n - k}{k} \not\equiv 1 \pmod{2^n} .\]Let $M = \underset{b < k \leq a}{\max} \nu_2(k)$. Denote by $t$ the unique integer in that range where the maximum is taken.Clearly, $M \leq n-2$. Let $t = 2^M m$. Then
\begin{align*} \prod_{k=b+1}^a \frac{2^n - k}{k} &= \prod_{k=b+1}^a \frac{2^{n- \nu_2(k)} - k/\nu_2(k)}{k /\nu_2(k} \\
& \equiv (-1)^{a-b-1} \frac{2^{n-M} - m}{m}  \\
& \equiv \pm (2^{n-M} - 1) .  \pmod{2^{n-M+1}} . 
\end{align*}At the last step, we make use of the fact that $m^{-1}$ is odd. Since $2^{n-M} \geq 2$, it is impossible that
\[ 2^{n-M} - 1 \equiv \pm 1 \pmod{2^{n-M + 1}}. \]Since
\[ \binom{2^n-1}{a} = \binom{2^n-1}{b} \prod_{k=b+1}^a \frac{2^n - k}{k} \]we are done.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by HKIS200543, Aug 9, 2020, 2:37 AM
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yayups
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#14
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Before starting with the proof, we establish that all the desired binomial coefficients are odd, which allows more ease in manipulating them modulo $2^n$.

Claim: We have that $\binom{2^n-1}{k}$ is odd for $0\le k\le 2^n-1$.

Proof: Let $s_2(m)$ denote the sum of the digits of $m$ written in binary. It is well known that \[v_2\left(\binom{a+b}{a}\right) = s_2(a+b)-s_2(a)-s_2(b).\]Using this, we see that \[v_2\left(\binom{2^n-1}{k}\right) = s_2(2^n-1) - s_2(k) - s_2((2^n-1)-k).\]Since $2^n-1$ is $n$ ones written in binary and $0\le k\le 2^n-1$, we see that the set of ones in the binary representation of $2^n-1-k$ is exactly the complement of those in the binary representation for $k$, so in fact \[s_2(2^n-1) - s_2(k) - s_2((2^n-1)-k)=0.\]This proves the claim. $\blacksquare$

We proceed by induction on $n$, with $n=1$ trivial. Now suppose the problem is true for $n$. Before proving $n+1$, we need to prove the following intermediate claim.

Claim: The numbers \[(-1)^a\binom{2^n-1}{a}\]generate all the odd residues modulo $2^{n+1}$ as $a$ varies from $0$ to $2^n-1$.

Proof: It suffices to show that \[(-1)^{a_1}\binom{2^n-1}{a_1} \equiv (-1)^{a_2}\binom{2^n-1}{a_2}\pmod{2^{n+1}}\]implies that $a_1=a_2$. The inductive hypothesis implies that in fact, $\binom{2^n-1}{2b}$ generates all the odd residues mod $2^n$ as $b$ varies from $0$ to $2^{n-1}-1$, and a similar statement holds if we replace $2b$ with $2b+1$. Thus, if $a_1$ and $a_2$ have the same parity, we are done trivially by simply looking modulo $2^n$.

So WLOG suppose that $a_1$ is even and $a_2$ is odd. Note that \[\binom{2^n-1}{a_2}=\frac{2^n-a_2}{a_2}\binom{2^n-1}{a_2-1},\]and that \[\frac{2^n-a_2}{a_2} = \frac{1}{a_2}2^n - 1 \equiv 2^n-1\pmod{2^{n+1}},\]so \[\binom{2^n-1}{a_2}\equiv (2^n-1) \binom{2^n-1}{a_2-1}\pmod{2^{n+1}}.\]Taking our original equation mod $2^n$ combined with the above implies that \[\binom{2^n-1}{a_1}\equiv \binom{2^n-1}{a_2-1}\pmod{2^n},\]and since both $a_1$ and $a_2-1$ are even, the inductive hypothesis implies that $a_1=a_2-1$. However, this them implies \[\binom{2^n-1}{a_2}\equiv (1-2^n)\binom{2^n-1}{a_2-1}\pmod{2^{n+1}},\]which is a clear contradiction as we can cancel out the binomial coefficients since they are odd. This is the desired contradiction, so $a_1$ and $a_2$ must in fact have the same parity, which we already resolved. This completes the proof. $\blacksquare$

The induction is now fairly clear. We see that \[\binom{2^{n+1}-1}{2a} = \frac{\prod_{i=0}^{a-1}(2^{n+1}-1-2i)}{\prod_{i=0}^{a-1}(1+2i)}\binom{2^n-1}{a}\equiv (-1)^a\binom{2^n}{a}\pmod{2^{n+1}},\]so \[\binom{2^{n+1}-1}{2a}\]generates all odd residues mod $2^{n+1}$, which completes the induction, and thus the proof.
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bora_olmez
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#15
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Very cool problem with an incredibly slick idea that only now reminds me of other problem which I only recalled during this write up. This solution is almost the same as #15 and in my opinion, is cleaner than the 'inductive/recursive' solutions above.

The fact that each of the binomial coefficients is odd is obvious because $\binom{2^n-1}{k} = \prod_{i=1}^{k} \frac{2^n-i}{i}$ where $i \leq 2^{n-1}-1$ hence $\nu_2(i) \leq n-1$ meaning that $\nu_2(2^n-i) = \nu_2(i)$ which means that $$\nu_2(
\frac{2^n-i}{i}) = \nu_2(2^n-i)-\nu_2(i) = 0$$and therefore $\binom{2^n-1}{k}$ is odd for all $k \in \{0, \cdots, 2^{n-1}-1\}$.

We will now prove that each of these binomial coefficients is distinct in $\pmod{2^n}$, assume for the sake of contradiction otherwise.

Then there exists $a>b$ among $\{0, \cdots 2^{n-1}-1\}$ such that $\binom{2^n-1}{a} \equiv \binom{2^n-1}{b} \pmod{2^n}$
Therefore, $$\prod_{i=b+1}^{a} \binom{2^n-i}{i} \equiv 1 \pmod{2^n}$$as odds have inverses.

Now notice the following result which should, in my opinion, be more popular. I actually had to come up with it myself again while solving the problem even though I have seen this is result in use for problem mentioned before.

$\textbf{Lemma 1:}$
For any set of consecutive positive integers, there exists an element with maximal $\nu_2()$.
$\textbf{Proof)}$
The proof is almost trivial, assume for the sake of contradiction that this is not the case, that is the maximal power of two is achieved twice, say at $u$ and $v$, then $u = 2^M \cdot k, v = 2^M \cdot t$ for odd positive integers $k,t$ such that without loss of generality $k < t$, then as $k \equiv t \equiv 1 \pmod{2}$, $k+1 < t$ as well and hence $s = 2^M(k+1)$ is among the integers achieving a higher $\nu_2()$, as desired. $\blacksquare$

Main Idea

Now, we can use $\textbf{Lemma 1}$ and consider the positive integer with maximal $\nu_2(t) = m$ among $b+1, \cdots, a$ for which $m \leq n-2$ because we are only considering $\binom{2^n-1}{0}, \binom{2^n-1}{1}, \cdots, \binom{2^n-1}{2^{n-1}-1}$. Then all but one of the fractions are of the form $\frac{2^T-s}{s}$ for odd $s$ and $T > n-m$ meaning that $$(-1)^{a-b-1} \cdot \frac{2^{n-m}-s}{s} \equiv \prod_{i=b+1}^{a} \binom{2^n-i}{i} \equiv 1 \pmod{2^{n-m+1}}$$for some $s$ odd which therefore means that $$(-1)^{a-b-1} \cdot s+s \equiv 2^{n-m} \pmod{2^{n-m+1}}$$as $2^{n-m} \not\equiv 0 \pmod{2^{n-m+1}}$ we must have that $$2s \equiv 2^{n-m} \pmod{2^{n-m+1}}$$which because $s$ is odd implies that $n-m = 1$ contradicting the fact that $m \leq n-2$, as desired. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 5 times. Last edited by bora_olmez, Feb 6, 2022, 12:31 AM
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HamstPan38825
8863 posts
#16
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Fairly sure this works.

The proof proceeds in two parts.
Part I: Parity. I claim that ${2^n-1 \choose i}$ is odd for all $0 \leq i \leq 2^n-1$. This follows by Lucas' Theorem because $2^n-1 = \overline{111\cdots 1}_2$, and thus subtracting any integer from it does not induce any carrying in base two.

Part II: Uniqueness. It remains to show that $${2^n-1 \choose i} \not \equiv {2^n-1 \choose j} \pmod {2^n}$$for $0 \leq i \neq j \leq 2^{n-1}-1$. Divide both sides of the congruence by ${2^n-1 \choose i}$, which is valid as the number is odd: $$\frac{{2^n-1 \choose j}}{{2^n - 1 \choose i}} \equiv \frac{(2^n-i-1)(2^n-i-2)\cdots(2^n-j)}{(i+1)(i+2)\cdots (j-1)j} \pmod {2^n}.$$We induct on $n$, with the stronger hypothesis that this expression cannot be congruent to 1 modulo $2^n$, and furthermore that it cannot be congruent to $-1$ modulo $2^n$ unless $|i-j| = 1$. The base case $n=2$ can be checked manually, and furthermore, notice that any two consecutive terms $$\frac{2^n - i}i \equiv -1 \pmod {2^n}$$if $i$ is odd, and we may reduce to the $2^{n-1}$ case if $n$ is even, so the $|i-j| = 1$ base case holds.

Next, suppose for the sake of contradiction that there exist $i < j$ such that the expression is congruent to $-1$ or 1 modulo $2^n$. Because $\nu_2(2^n-i-1) = \nu_2(i+1)$ for all $i$, we may remove terms on the numerator and denominator that are both odd and cancel out a factor of 2 from the remaining terms: $$(-1)^a \equiv \frac{(2^n-i-1)(2^n-i-2)\cdots(2^n-j)}{(i+1)(i+2)\cdots (j-1)j} \equiv (-1)^b \prod_{k=i'}^{j'} \frac{2^{n-1} - k}k \pmod {2^n}$$for some positive integers $i', j', a, b$. Notice that $j' \leq \frac j2 \leq 2^{n-2} - 1$ and obviously $i' \geq 0$, so we may apply the inductive hypothesis to obtain $$\prod_{k=i'}^{j'} \frac{2^{n-1} - k}k \not \equiv (-1)^{r_{n-1}} \pmod {2^{n-1}} \implies \prod_{k=i'}^{j'} \frac{2^{n-1} - k}k \not \equiv (-1)^{r_{n-1}} \pmod {2^n}.$$If there is only one term in the reduced expansion that is congruent to $-1 \pmod {2^{n-1}}$, notice that $$\frac{2^{n-1} - i}i \not \equiv -1 \pmod {2^n},$$so the quotient cannot be congruent to $-1$ either. This yields a contradiction, so the inductive step is complete.

As a result, all the binomial coefficients are congruent to distinct odd residues mod $2^n$. It follows they must be congruent to $1, 3, 5, \cdots, 2^n - 1$ in some order, as required.
This post has been edited 4 times. Last edited by HamstPan38825, Jul 20, 2022, 6:44 PM
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signifance
140 posts
#17
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Can someone check this? For some reason I'm terrible at algebra and this took me two hours.
The fact that they are all odd is evident by $\nu_2(i)<n-1\Rightarrow\nu_2(2^n-i)=\nu_2(i)$, so $\tbinom{2^n - 1}{2k}(1 + \tfrac{2^n - (2k+1)}{2k+1}) = \tbinom{2^n - 1}{2k}(\tfrac{2^n}{2k+1}) \equiv 2^n \pmod{2^{n+1}}$. Now by induction we prove that $\tbinom{2^n - 1}{4k+3} \equiv \tbinom{2^{n-1}-1}{2k+1} \pmod{2^n}$, base case evident, with inductive step following $$(\tfrac{2^n - (4k+7)}{4k+7})(\tfrac{2^n - (4k+6)}{4k+6})(\tfrac{2^n - (4k+5)}{4k+5})(\tfrac{2^n - (4k+4)}{4k+4}) \equiv (\tfrac{2^{n-1} - (2k+3)}{2k+3})(\tfrac{2^{n-1} - (2k+2)}{2k+2}) \equiv \tfrac{\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{2k+3}}{\binom{2^{n-1} - 1}{2k+1}} \pmod{2^n};$$similarly we deduce $\binom{2^n-1}{4k+1}\equiv\binom{2^{n-1}-1}{2k+1},\binom{2^n - 1}{4k} \equiv \binom{2^{n-1} - 1}{2k}\equiv\binom{2^n-1}{4k+2}\pmod{2^n}$. The problem is finished by inductive hypothesis of only odd residues appearing in tandem with noting that $\binom{2^{n+1}-1}{4k+1}\not\equiv\binom{2^{n+1}-1}{4k+3}\pmod{2^{n+1}}$, which follows from basic algebra.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by signifance, Dec 28, 2023, 4:53 AM
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Mr.Sharkman
500 posts
#18
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Obviously, these are all odd by Lucas's Theorem. Now, we claim that they must all be distinct. Assume that, for some $i < j,$ we have
$${2^{n}-1 \choose i} \equiv {2^{n}-1 \choose j} \pmod{2^{n}}.$$Then,
\begin{align*}
    {2^{n}-1 \choose j} - {2^{n}-1 \choose i} 
    & = \frac{(2^{n}-1)! ((2^{n}-1-i)!i! - (2^{n}-1-j)!j!)}{i! j! (2^{n}-1-i)! (2^{n}-1-j)!}\\ 
    & = {2^{n}-1 \choose i} \cdot \frac{i!(2^{n}-1-j)! [(2^{n}-i-1) \cdots (2^{n}-j)-j \cdots (i+1)]}{j! (2^{n}-1-j)!} \\
    & = {2^{n}-1 \choose i} \cdot  \frac{i!}{j!} \cdot \left(\prod_{k = i+1}^{j} (2^{n}-k) - \prod_{k = i+1}^{j} k \right).
\end{align*}Notice that $j-i$ is even, so we can rewrite the first product as $\prod_{k = i+1}^{j}(k-2^{n}).$ So, when considering the number of factors of $2,$ the expression is just
$$\frac{i!}{j!} \cdot \sum_{k=1}^{j-i}2^{nk} S_{(j-i)-k}(i+1, \cdots, j).$$
Claim: $\frac{i!}{j!}S_{j-i-1}(i+1, \cdots, j)$ has a negative $2$-adic.

Proof: Notice that $$\frac{i!}{j!} S_{j-i-1}(i+1, \cdots, j) = \sum_{k=i+1}^{j}\frac{1}{k}.$$Consider the largest $k$ such that there exists an $\ell$ with $i < \ell \le j,$ and $\nu_{2}(\ell) = k.$ We claim that only such one $\ell$ can exist. Considering the smallest such $\ell,$ if there are more possible values, then $\ell+2^{k+1}$ must work as well, as it clearly has $2$-adic equal to $k.$ But, then, if both of these numbers are in the range $[i+1,j],$ then so is $\ell+2^{k},$ which has $2$-adic at least $k+1,$ a contradiction. So,
$$\sum_{k=i+1}^{j} \frac{1}{k} = \nu_{2}\left(\frac{1}{\ell}\right)=-k < 0,$$and thus we have proven the desired. $\blacksquare$

So, from the claim,
$$\frac{i!}{j!} \cdot \sum_{k=1}^{j-i}2^{nk} S_{(j-i)-k}(i+1, \cdots, j) $$$$= \nu_{2}\left(2^{n} \cdot \frac{i!}{j!} \cdot S_{j-i-1}(i+1, \cdots, j)+2^{2n}\left(\sum_{k=2}^{n} 2^{(k-2)n}S_{(j-i)-k}(i+1, \cdots, j)\right)\right) < n,$$and so
$2^{n} \nmid {2^{n}-1 \choose i} - {2^{n}-1 \choose j},$
as desired.
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Ilikeminecraft
626 posts
#19
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We show a stronger statement: Show that $\binom{2^n - 1}{2}, \binom{2^n - 1}{3}\dots\binom{2^n-1}{2^{n-1}-1}$ are $3, 5, \dots, 2^{n} - 3$ and $\binom{2^n-1}{1}\equiv-1, \binom{2^n-1}{0}\equiv1.$

We prove this with induction. Clearly, $n = 1$ is true. Now, assuming the statement for $n - 1$ is true, we will prove it for $n.$

Note that $\frac{\binom{2^n - 1}k}{\binom{2^n - 1}{k - 1}} = \frac{2^n- k}{k}.$ Note that $(\frac{2^n - k}k,2) = 1.$ Hence, if we define $a_i = \frac{2^n-k}{k}\pmod{2^n},$ it suffices to prove that there don't exist $i < j$ such that $\prod_{k = i}^j a_i\equiv1.$ Note that for even $i,$ this is equivalent to the previous sequence, and for odd $i,$ it is $-1.$ By induction hypothesis, we are done.
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scannose
1015 posts
#20
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choosing
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megarnie
5606 posts
#23
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Let $ n$ be a positive integer. Show that the numbers
\[ \binom{2^n - 1}{0},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{1},\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2},\; \ldots,\; \binom{2^n - 1}{2^{n - 1} - 1}\]are congruent modulo $ 2^n$ to $ 1$, $ 3$, $ 5$, $ \ldots$, $ 2^n - 1$ in some order.

Suppose otherwise and we had $a \ne b$ with $\binom{2^n -1}{a} \equiv \binom{2^n - 1}{b} \pmod{2^n}$ and $0 \le a < b < 2^{n-1}$. Note that $n = 1$ obviously works, so $n > 1$. Firstly, we see that for each integer $i$ in $[0,2^n - 1]$, $\binom{2^n - 1}{i}$ is odd by directly taking $\nu_2$: by Legendre's it becomes $s(i) + s(2^n - 1 - i) - s(2^n - 1)$ and then since you can't have any carries, this result is $0$.

We have \begin{align*}
\binom{2^n - 1}{a} - \binom{2^n - 1}{b} = (2^n - 1)! \left( \frac{1}{a! (2^n - 1 - a)!} - \frac{1}{b! (2^n - 1 - b)!} \right) \\
= \frac{(2^n - 1) ! (b! (2^n - 1 - b)!) - a! (2^n - 1 - a)!) }{a! b! (2^n - 1 - a)! (2^n - 1 - b)! } \\
= \frac{(2^n - 1) ! ((a+1) (a+2) \cdots b - (2^n - (a+1)) (2^n - (a+2)) \cdots (2^n - b)) }{b! (2^n - 1 - a)! } \\
= \frac{((a+1) (a+2) \cdots b - (2^n - (a+1)) (2^n - (a+2)) \cdots (2^n - b))}{(a+1)(a+2) \cdots b} \\
\end{align*}
Now, we will determine the $\nu_2$ of \[X =  (a+1) (a+2) \cdots b - (2^n - (a+1))(2^n - (a+2)) \cdots (2^n - b)\]
It must be at least $\nu_2((a+1)(a+2) \cdots b ) + n$ as $\binom{2^n - 1}{a} - \binom{2^n - 1}{b}$ has a $\nu_2$ of $\nu_2(X) - \nu_2((a+1)(a+2) \cdots b)$.

If a and b are opposite parities click hereNote that $X$ can be rewritten as \[ (a+1) (a+2) \cdots b - ((a+1) - 2^n)((a+2) - 2^n) \cdots (b - 2^n) \]
Again view the terms of in the expansion of $X$ when treated as a polynomial in $2^n$. Also let $k$ be the integer in $[a+1, b]$ with maximal $\nu_2$ (exists because if there were two or more, take the closest two and then average them).

Claim: The unique term in this expansion of $X$ that has a minimal $\nu_2$ is equal to $2^n \cdot \frac{(a+1)(a+2) \cdots b }{k}$.
Proof: Firstly, if a term has multiple copies of $2^n$, just replace the $2^n$ with some $a+i$ that is not included in the term, and we decrease the $\nu_2$, so it does not have a minimal $\nu_2$. Therefore, the term must have exactly one copy of $2^n$, after which we find that the term is equal to $2^n \cdot \frac{(a+1)(a+2) \cdots b}{i}$ for some integer $i \in [a+1,b]$, so we need to maximize $\nu_2(i)$ and this holds uniquely at $i = k$. $\square$

This implies that \[\nu_2(X) = \nu_2\left (2^n \cdot \frac{(a+1)(a+2) \cdots b}{k} \right) > \nu_2( 2^n \cdot (a+1)(a+2) \cdots b) = n + \nu_2((a+1)(a+2) \cdots b) ,\]absurd (where the inequality follows from the fact that $a < b$ are of the same parity, so there has to be an even number in $[a+1, b]$).
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