Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-options-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2005/c/2/a/ii/solution
Past exam of the options II course of the University of Oxford 2005 C 2 a ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Use prime factorization and multiplicativity to check the identity one prime at a time. Fix and put , , . The local factors to compare areIf either exponent is zero, and the equality follows from . If both are positive, the prime-power formula makes both sidesMultiplying the local identities over all primes and using givesThis accounts for repeated prime factors shared by the two inputs, which ordinary coprime multiplicativity alone would not remove.
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