# What is the greatest integer that divides $p^4-1$ for every prime number $p$ greater than $5$?

What is the greatest integer that divides $p^4-1$ for every prime number $p > 5$? This was on a practice math GRE so it's probably really easy.

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I suppose this is more of a brute force method. By FlT, you know $p^4\equiv 1\pmod{5}$, so $5$ is a factor. Also, factoring, you get

$$p^4-1=(p-1)(p+1)(p^2+1),$$

and since $p$ is odd, each factor is divisible by $2$. Moreover, one of the factors $p-1$ or $p+1$ is divisible by $4$, so $4\cdot2\cdot 2=16$ is another factor. Finally, of the three consecutive integers, $p-1$, $p$, and $p+1$, $3$ is a factor of one. Since $p$ is prime and larger than $5$, $3\nmid p$, so $3|p^4-1$. Hence $16\cdot 3\cdot 5=240$ is a factor of $p^4-1$ for any prime $p\gt 5$.

It still remains to see that $240$ is the greatest such divisor. This can be confirmed by looking at $7^4-1=2400$ and $11^4-1=14640$.

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A possibly simpler way is that: $p^{16} - 1 = 0 \mod 48$, as $\varphi(48) = 16$. We also have $x^4 + 1 = 2 \mod 4$ for odd $x$. Thus $p^4 - 1 = 0 \mod 48$. Since $p^4 - 1 = 0 \mod 5$ too, it follows that $p^4 - 1 = 0 \mod 240$. – Aryabhata May 21 '11 at 5:09
@Aryabhatta, thanks, I was hoping to see something nicer than what I said. – yunone May 21 '11 at 5:12
@yunone: Unfortunately, looks like the above comment is incorrect. Maybe there is a way to correct it. One other way it that for $p=6k \pm 1$, we have $p^2 - 1 = 36k^2 \pm 12k = 12k(3k\pm 1)$. Which is divisible by $24$ as $k(3k\pm 1)$ is even. Since $p^2 + 1$ is even, $p^4 - 1$ is divisible by $48$. – Aryabhata May 21 '11 at 6:01
btw, for a 'heavier' proof: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmichael_function. Since $\lambda(240) = 4$, it follows that $p^4 - 1 = 0 \mod 240$. – Aryabhata May 21 '11 at 6:12
That seems to solve it! Thanks :) – badatmath May 21 '11 at 15:09

$\rm\:p\nmid p^4-1\:$ so $\rm\:2,3,5\:$ are the only possible prime divisors. $240$ is the maximal product of such since $11^4-1 = 122\cdot 120 = 2^4\cdot3\cdot5\cdot 61\:.$ Now, as I mentioned on sci.math on Sep 1, 2003, for every n coprime to $\:2,3,5\:,\:$ hence certainly for every prime > $5$, we have that $\rm\:n^4 \equiv 1\ (mod\ 240)\:$ since $240$ has Carmichael lambda function $\rm\:\lambda(240) = \lambda(2^4\cdot3\cdot 5) = lcm(2^{4-2},\phi(3),\phi(5)) = 4\:.$

See also my my post on Carmichael's generalizations of little Fermat and Euler's phi function, and many applications of such in prior posts. It's well-worth learning these generalizations since they are ubiquitous in number theory.

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Let $n$ be the number. Then the only prime factors of $n$ are 2,3,5, because any other prime number $p$ doesn't divide $p^4-1$.

So $n=2^a3^b5^c$, and using the fact that $p^2-1 \cong 1 mod 24$, $p^2+1$ is even and $p^4 \cong 1 \mod 5$, the answer is easy to figure..

To finish it:

If $p=5 mod 8$ (13 works) then $p+1, p^2+1$ are $2 \mod 4$ and $P-1 = 4 mod 8$, thus $a \leq 4$.

If $p= 4 mod 9$ (again 13 works) $p^2-1= 6 \mod 9$ and $p^2+1 =8 \mod 9$ thus $b \leq 1$.

If $p= 6 \mod 25$, then $p^2-1= 10 \mod 25$ and $p^2-1= 10 \mod 25$ so $c \leq 1$. I think that actually $p=7$ works nicer in this case....

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