Problem

Source: Indonesia National Mathematics Olympiad (INAMO) 2024 Problem 8

Tags: number theory, least common multiple, Indonesia, Indonesia MO, LCM



Let $n \ge 2$ be a positive integer. Suppose $a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n$ are distinct integers. For $k = 1, 2, \dots, n$, let \[ s_k := \prod_{\substack{i \not= k, \\ 1 \le i \le n}} |a_k - a_i|, \]i.e. $s_k$ is the product of all terms of the form $|a_k - a_i|$, where $i \in \{ 1, 2, \dots, n \}$ and $i \not= k$. Find the largest positive integer $M$ such that $M$ divides the least common multiple of $s_1, s_2, \dots, s_n$ for any choices of $a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n$.