🧮 Brain Teaser

Friday, September 4, 2026

Today's topic: Putnam / fun problems

The Polynomial That Divides Its Own Composition

Let ff be a nonconstant polynomial with positive integer coefficients. Prove that for every positive integer nn,

nf(n)    nf(f(n)+1).n \mid f(n) \implies n \mid f(f(n) + 1).

Wait — prove the stronger claim from Putnam 2007 B-1:

Let ff be a nonconstant polynomial with positive integer coefficients. Prove that for any positive integer nn, f(n)f(n) divides f(f(n)+1)f(f(n)+1) if and only if n=1n = 1.

polynomialdivisibilitynumber theorypositive coefficientsmodular arithmetic

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