Problem

Source: Iranian TST 2022 Problem 2

Tags: number theory



For a positive integer $n$, let $\tau(n)$ and $\sigma(n)$ be the number of positive divisors of $n$ and the sum of positive divisors of $n$, respectively. let $a$ and $b$ be positive integers such that $\sigma(a^n)$ divides $\sigma(b^n)$ for all $n\in \mathbb{N}$. Prove that each prime factor of $\tau(a)$ divides $\tau(b)$. Proposed by MohammadAmin Sharifi