Olympiad problems

2014 Contests, 3

Find all positive integers $n$ such that for any integer $k$ there exists an integer $a$ for which $a^3+a-k$ is divisible by $n$. [i]Warut Suksompong, Thailand[/i]

2015 Iran MO (3rd round), 3

Tags: number theory , prime numbers , Quadratic Residues

Let $p>5$ be a prime number and $A=\{b_1,b_2,\dots,b_{\frac{p-1}{2}}\}$ be the set of all quadratic residues modulo $p$, excluding zero. Prove that there doesn't exist any natural $a,c$ satisfying $(ac,p)=1$ such that set $B=\{ab_1+c,ab_2+c,\dots,ab_{\frac{p-1}{2}}+c\}$ and set $A$ are disjoint modulo $p$. [i]This problem was proposed by Amir Hossein Pooya.[/i]

2023 Silk Road, 3

Tags: number theory , prime numbers , Quadratic Residues , Directed graphs , quadratics

Let $p$ be a prime number. We construct a directed graph of $p$ vertices, labeled with integers from $0$ to $p-1$. There is an edge from vertex $x$ to vertex $y$ if and only if $x^2+1\equiv y \pmod{p}$. Let $f(p)$ denotes the length of the longest directed cycle in this graph. Prove that $f(p)$ can attain arbitrarily large values.

PEN C Problems, 2

Tags: Gauss , modular arithmetic , algebra , system of equations , number theory , Quadratic Residues

The positive integers $a$ and $b$ are such that the numbers $15a+16b$ and $16a-15b$ are both squares of positive integers. What is the least possible value that can be taken on by the smaller of these two squares?