If gcd(a, b) = 1, Then gcd(a+b, a-b) Is Either 1 Or 2

Let \(d=(a+b, a-b)\), then:

$$ d|a+b $$$$ d|a-b $$

According to this lemma, \(d\) can divide any linear combination of \((a+b)\) and \((a-b)\):

$$ d | (a+b) + (a-b) \implies d | 2a $$$$ d | (a+b) - (a-b) \implies d | 2b $$

Since \(d\) divides both \(2a\) and \(2b\), and since every linear combination of \(2a\) and \(2b\) is a multiple of \((2a, 2b)\), then:

$$ d|(2a, 2b) $$

According to this lemma, we can take the 2 out:

$$ (a, b) = 1 \implies (2a, 2b)=2 $$$$ \therefore d|2$$

This means \(d\) can only be 2 or 1.

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