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exists a synchronous set containing 2021 different natural numbers.

Source: Norwegian Mathematical Olympiad 2021 - Abel Competition p3b

May 29, 2021
number theory

Problem Statement

We say that a set SS of natural numbers is synchronous provided that the digits of a2a^2 are the same (in occurence and numbers, if differently ordered) for all numbers aa in SS. For example, {13,14,31}\{13, 14, 31\} is synchronous, since we find {132,142,312}={169,196,961}\{13^2, 14^2, 31^2\} = \{169, 196, 961\}. But {119,121}\{119, 121\} is not synchronous, for even though 1192=14161119^2 = 14161 and 1212=14641121^2 = 14641 have the same digits, they occur in different numbers. Show that there exists a synchronous set containing 20212021 different natural numbers.