Let be a set of rational numbers such that
;
If then and ; and
If and , then .
Must contain all rational numbers?
Solution
The answer is no; indeed, $S = \,|\,
satisfies the given conditions. Clearly S$ satisfies
(a) and (b); we need only check that it satisfies (c). It suffices to
show that if is a fraction with and , then we
cannot have for an integer . Suppose otherwise; then
Since and are relatively prime, and divides , we must
have , so or . On the other hand, and are
also relatively prime, so divides as well, and must be
1 or 5. This leads to eight possibilities for :
, , , , , , ,
. The first three are impossible, while the final five lead to
respectively, none of which holds for
integral .
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