Find all surjective functions such that for every and every prime the number is divisible by if and only if is divisible by .
Author: Mohsen Jamaali and Nima Ahmadi Pour Anari, Iran
Find all surjective functions such that for every and every prime the number is divisible by if and only if is divisible by .
Author: Mohsen Jamaali and Nima Ahmadi Pour Anari, Iran
We are tasked with finding all surjective functions that satisfy the condition: for every and every prime , the number is divisible by if and only if is divisible by .
To solve this, we consider the given condition:
Let's explore the implications of this condition:
1. Injectivity:
Assume for contradiction that for . Then, consider and :
Since is assumed to be surjective, it must be injective as well because if , any number in the codomain cannot have two different pre-images, which would violate surjectivity.
2. Additivity and Linear Form:
For simplicity, consider :
Now generalize this idea. Suppose by induction that holds for some . Then, for and :
thereby maintaining the linearity .
3. Scaling:
Consider , then should hold. Scaling continues to suggest that and let's assume for surjectivity .
4. Testing the Condition:
Given , check the condition in both directions:
- If , then .
- If , similarly .
The only function which satisfies all constraints and maintain surjectivity is .
Thus, the function that satisfies the given condition is: