Problem

Source: ELMO Shortlist 2023 N2

Tags: Elmo, number theory



Determine the greatest positive integer \(n\) for which there exists a sequence of distinct positive integers \(s_1\), \(s_2\), \(\ldots\), \(s_n\) satisfying \[s_1^{s_2}=s_2^{s_3}=\cdots=s_{n-1}^{s_n}.\] Proposed by Holden Mui