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How does one prove that if $n \mid (a^{n}-b^{n}) \ \Longrightarrow$ $ \displaystyle n \mid \frac{a^{n}-b^{n}}{a-b}$ where $a,b, n \in \mathbb{N}$.

What i thought of is to consider $$(a-b)^{n} \equiv a^{n} + (-1)^{n}b^{n} \ (\text{mod} \ n)$$ and if we suppose that $n$ is odd then we have, $$(a-b)^{n} \equiv a^{n} -b^{n} \ (\text{mod} \ n)$$ and since $n \mid (a^{n} - b^{n})$ we have $$(a-b)^{n} \equiv 0 \ (\text{mod} \ n) $$

I think i am far away from the conclusion of the problem, but this is what i could work on regarding the problem.

Bill Dubuque
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    The last line of your work is incorrect. (a-b)^{n} \equiv 0 (mod n) does not imply n \mid (a-b). Take a = 6, b = 4, n = 4 for a counterexample. – bzc Oct 08 '10 at 05:36
  • See here-https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1842565/does-n-midan-bn-imply-n-midan-bn-a-b?noredirect=1&lq=1 – MAS Jul 24 '19 at 13:39

2 Answers2

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Let $\,c = (a^n\!-b^n)/(a\!-\!b).\,$ To show $\,n\mid c\,$ it suffices to show $\,p^k\mid n\Rightarrow\, p^k\mid c\,$ for all primes $p$.

If $\,\ p\nmid a\!-\!b\ $ then $\ p^k\mid n\mid a^n\!-b^n\!= (a\!-\!b)\:\!c\,\Rightarrow\ p^k\mid c\:$ by iterating Euclid's Lemma,

else $\, p\mid a\!-\!b\ $ so $\ p^k{\,\LARGE \mid}\, \dfrac{\color{#90f}{a^{\large p}\!-b^{\large p}}}{\color{#0a0}{a-b}}\,\dfrac{a^{\large p^2}\!\!-b^{\large p^2}\!\!}{\color{#90f}{a^{\large p}-b^{\large p}}}\cdots \dfrac{\color{#c00}{a^{\large p^k}\!\!-b^{\large p^k}}}{a^{\large p^{k-1}}\!\!-b^{\large p^{k-1}}}\, \dfrac{\color{#0a0}{a^{\large n}\!-b^{\large n}}}{\color{#c00}{a^{\large p^k}-b^{\large p^k}}} = \color{#0a0}{\dfrac{a^{\large n}-b^{\large n}}{a-b}} = c$

by first $\,k\,$ factors have form $\,Q= \dfrac{A^{\large p}\!-B^{\large p}\!\!}{A-B}\,$ so each is divisible by $\,p,\,$ by $\,p\mid A\!-\!B\,$ thus

$\qquad\ \ \ \bmod p\!:\ \color{#c00}{A}\equiv B\,\Rightarrow\, Q = \color{#c00}A^{p-1}\!+\color{#c00}A^{p-2}B+\cdots+\!B^{p-1}\!\equiv\ pB^{p-1}\!\equiv 0$

Remark $ $ For generalizations of the above (multiplicative telescopic) lifting of $p$-divisibility see LTE = Lifting The Exponent and related results.

Bill Dubuque
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  • Can you please explain what you mean by " by first k factors have form $Q= \frac{A^p -B^p} { A-B}$ so each is divisible by p by p | A-B"? and how did you deduced that –  Sep 17 '21 at 04:28
  • @No-One $\large \dfrac{\color{}{a^{\large p^j}!!-b^{\large p^j}}}{a^{\large p^{j-1}}!!-b^{\large p^{j-1}}} = \dfrac{A^{\large p}!-B^{\large p}!!}{A-B}\ \ {\rm for}\ \ A = a^{p^{j-1}},, B = b^{p^{j-1}}$ – Bill Dubuque Sep 17 '21 at 15:02
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Use the fact that $x \equiv y \pmod{p^{\ell}}$ (with $\ell > 0$) implies $x^p \equiv y^p \pmod{p^{\ell+1}}$ to treat the case where $n$ is a prime power. But note that to prove the statement for $n$, it suffices to prove the statement separately for each prime power dividing $n$. [I am of course leaving out details, but perhaps the OP might enjoy trying to fill in the sketch.]

D. Savitt
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