IMO 1969 LL FRA18

Origin: FRA

Problem

Let a and b be two nonnegative integers. Denote by H(a, b) the set of numbers n of the form n = pa + qb, where p and q are positive integers. Determine H(a) = H(a, a). Prove that if a ̸= b, it is enough to know all the sets H(a, b) for coprime numbers a, b in order to know all the sets H(a, b). Prove that in the case of coprime numbers a and b, H(a, b) contains all numbers greater than or equal to \omega = (a −1)(b −1) and also \omega/2 numbers smaller than \omega.