Solution 8fb58e14-b926-403a-87aa-1d70727a53a4
Points: 5 pts
Lemma 1: Any divisor $d$ has the form $d=p_1^{b_1}p_2^{b_2}\cdots p_r^{b_r}$
Any divisor $d$ of $n$ can be written as
\[
d=p_1^{b_1}p_2^{b_2}\cdots p_r^{b_r}.
\]
We see this because
\[
n=dm,
\]
where
\[
m=p_1^{a_1-b_1}p_2^{a_2-b_2}\cdots p_r^{a_r-b_r}
\]
is an integer.
Lemma 2: We must have $0\leq b_i\leq a_i$
Since $d$ must be an integer,
\[
0\leq b_i.
\]
But $m$ must also be an integer, so
\[
0\leq a_i-b_i.
\]
Combining these inequalities gives
\[
0\leq b_i\leq a_i
\]
for all $i$.
Lemma 3: Each divisor $d_i$ corresponds to a tuple $t_i$
Let $T$ be the set of tuples $t_i$ such that
\[
t_i=(b_1,b_2,\ldots,b_r).
\]
The order of a tuple records which exponent belongs to each prime $p_i$. By the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, each tuple therefore corresponds to a single divisor.
Lemma 4: $\#B_i=a_i+1$
Let $B_i$ be the set of possible values for $b_i$ in the exponent. Counting, we find
\[
b_i\in\{0,1,2,\ldots,a_i\}.
\]
Hence there are
\[
\#B_i=a_i+1
\]
possible values.
Lemma 5: $\#T=\#B_1\#B_2\cdots\#B_r$
This follows from the multiplication principle for independent choices. Therefore,
\[
\#T
=\#B_1\#B_2\cdots\#B_r
=(a_1+1)(a_2+1)\cdots(a_r+1).
\]
Since each tuple in $T$ corresponds to exactly one divisor of $n$, we can read off the answer.
Final answer:
\#\operatorname{div}(n)=(a_1+1)(a_2+1)\cdots(a_r+1)