Problem

Source: China Additional TST for IMO 2020, P3

Tags: number theory, algebra, least common multiple



For a non-empty finite set $A$ of positive integers, let $\text{lcm}(A)$ denote the least common multiple of elements in $A$, and let $d(A)$ denote the number of prime factors of $\text{lcm}(A)$ (counting multiplicity). Given a finite set $S$ of positive integers, and $$f_S(x)=\sum_{\emptyset \neq A \subset S} \frac{(-1)^{|A|} x^{d(A)}}{\text{lcm}(A)}.$$Prove that, if $0 \le x \le 2$, then $-1 \le f_S(x) \le 0$.