Let
be the set of all pairs
of relatively prime positive integers
with
even and
For
write
where
are positive integers with
odd and define
Prove that
is a function from
to
and that for each
there exists a positive integer
such that
where
If
is a prime number which does not divide
for
prove that the smallest value
which satisfies the above conditions is
where
denotes the greatest integer
%V0
Let $S$ be the set of all pairs $(m,n)$ of relatively prime positive integers $m,n$ with $n$ even and $m < n.$ For $s = (m,n) \in S$ write $n = 2^k \cdot n_o$ where $k, n_0$ are positive integers with $n_0$ odd and define $$f(s) = (n_0, m + n - n_0).$$ Prove that $f$ is a function from $S$ to $S$ and that for each $s = (m,n) \in S,$ there exists a positive integer $t \leq \frac{m+n+1}{4}$ such that $$f^t(s) = s,$$ where $$f^t(s) = \underbrace{ (f \circ f \circ \cdots \circ f) }_{t \text{ times}}(s).$$
If $m+n$ is a prime number which does not divide $2^k - 1$ for $k = 1,2, \ldots, m+n-2,$ prove that the smallest value $t$ which satisfies the above conditions is $\left [\frac{m+n+1}{4} \right ]$ where $\left[ x \right]$ denotes the greatest integer $\leq x.$