Suppose that is an integer such that is divisible by for a positive integer . Is it true that for all positive integers , then is divisible by ?
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Let p be a prime, let n be any positive integer, and let α be any non-negative integer. Then p α ∣ n ! ⟹ α ≤ k = 1 ∑ ∞ ⌊ p k n ⌋ ≤ k = 1 ∑ ∞ p k n ≤ k = 1 ∑ ∞ 2 k n = n . Therefore n ! divides \substack p ≤ n p prime ∏ p n
Now consider x and m as in the problem. For any prime p ≤ m , we have p ∣ m ! ∣ x m ⟹ p ∣ x m ⟹ p ∣ x Therefore, if n < m , then n ! ∣ ∣ ∣ \substack p ≤ n p prime ∏ p n ∣ ∣ ∣ \substack p ≤ m p prime ∏ p n ∣ ∣ ∣ x n ⟹ n ! ∣ x n □