Olympiad Maths Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Greece

Let pp prime and mm a positive integer. Determine all pairs (p,m)(p, m) satisfying the equation: p(p+m)+p=(m+1)3p(p+m)+p=(m+1)^3. (A. Fellouris)

Solution

The given equation is written

p(p+m+1)=(m+1)3 p(p+m+1) = (m+1)^3
Therefore the prime pp is a divisor of (m+1)3(m+1)^3. Hence p(m+1)p \mid (m+1), which means that there exists positive integer kk such that m+1=kpm+1 = kp. Then, from (1) we get:
p(p+kp)=(kp)3k+1=k3pk3(k+1)k(k+1)k=1. p(p+kp) = (kp)^3 \Leftrightarrow k+1 = k^3p \Rightarrow k^3 \mid (k+1) \Rightarrow k \mid (k+1) \Rightarrow k=1.
Hence p=2p=2, m=1m=1 and (p,m)=(2,1)(p,m)=(2,1).

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