Tuesday, 11 April 2017

elementary number theory - Prove that for every pair of coprime positive integers $p,q$, $(x^{pq}-1)(x-1)$ is divisible by $(x^p-1)(x^q-1)$.





Prove that for every pair of coprime positive integers $p,q$ the expression $(x^{pq}-1)(x-1)$ is divisible by $(x^p-1)(x^q-1)$.




My attempts:



$x^{pq}-1=(x^p)^q-1$ which is divisible by $x^p-1$



again, $x^{pq}-1=(x^q)^p-1$ which is divisible by $x^q-1$.




But how to prove that it is divisible by their products?
Just now an idea struck me. Can I consider gcd of $x^p-1$ and $x^q-1$ as $x-1$ ?. If yes, then we are done!


Answer



To answer your question, if the exponents are not coprime, you can try to prove the general formula:
$$\gcd(x^m-1,x^n-1)=x^{\gcd(m,n)}-1,$$
from which you can deduce that $\;(x^{mn}-1)(x^{\gcd(m,n)}-1)$ is divisible by $\;(x^m-1)(x^n-1)$.


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