Interactive · 1 question
Oftentimes, it is useful to think of factors in pairs. The best way to illustrate this is swith an example.
Let be the number of divisor of . Prove that
What should we try?
Note that if is in the product, then we know , and there exists an integer such that . Thus, , and is also in the sum. Note that this creates a bijection from the set of divisors to itself. So, let's square the equation so we have two of the products. We know that one of the products can be rewritten. Combining the products, We know this is true, because there are divisors, and we are multiplying it that many times. So, since this is true and all steps are reversible, the first equation is true.