Problem

Source: Chinese TST 2 2013 Day 2 Q1

Tags: symmetry, number theory proposed, number theory



For a positive integer $N>1$ with unique factorization $N=p_1^{\alpha_1}p_2^{\alpha_2}\dotsb p_k^{\alpha_k}$, we define \[\Omega(N)=\alpha_1+\alpha_2+\dotsb+\alpha_k.\] Let $a_1,a_2,\dotsc, a_n$ be positive integers and $p(x)=(x+a_1)(x+a_2)\dotsb (x+a_n)$ such that for all positive integers $k$, $\Omega(P(k))$ is even. Show that $n$ is an even number.