Relentless reciprocals

The equation

1 x 1 + 1 x 2 + . . . + 1 x 2014 + 1 x 1 . x 2 . . . . . x 2014 = 1 \displaystyle \frac{1}{x_1}+\frac{1}{x_2}+...+\frac{1}{x_{2014}}+\frac{1}{x_1.x_2.....x_{2014}}=1

has a unique solution in positive integers, where x 1 < x 2 < . . . < x 2014 x_1<x_2<...<x_{2014}

Find x 2014 x_{2014} modulo 5 × 7 × 13 5 \times 7 \times 13 .


The answer is 183.

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1 solution

Patrick Corn
Jun 30, 2014

I am not sure how to prove that the solution is unique, but if we let x 1 = 2 x_1 = 2 and x k + 1 = x k 2 x k + 1 x_{k+1} = x_k^2-x_k+1 for k 1 k \ge 1 , we get that 1 x 1 + + 1 x k + 1 x 1 x 2 x k = 1 \frac1{x_1} + \cdots + \frac1{x_k} + \frac1{x_1 x_2 \cdots x_k} = 1 for all k k . (This is an easy induction; the key is that a k a_k is one more than the product of the previous a i a_i .)

Mod 5 5 this sequence is 2 , 3 , 2 , 3 , 2 , 3 , 2,3,2,3,2,3,\ldots .

Mod 7 7 it's 2 , 3 , 0 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 2,3,0,1,1,1,\ldots .

Mod 13 13 it's 2 , 3 , 7 , 4 , 0 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 2,3,7,4,0,1,1,1,\ldots .

So x 2014 x_{2014} is 3 3 mod 5 5 , 1 1 mod 7 7 , and 1 1 mod 13 13 . By the Chinese Remainder Theorem, it is 183 \fbox{183} mod the product.

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