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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Croatia

Determine all triples (x,y,z)(x, y, z) of real numbers that satisfy
x+yz=1x2y2+z2=1x3+y3+z3=1. \begin{align*} x + y - z &= -1 \\ x^2 - y^2 + z^2 &= 1 \\ -x^3 + y^3 + z^3 &= -1. \end{align*}

Solution

From the first equation we get x+y=z1x + y = z - 1. By plugging this into the second equation we get:
x2y2=1z2,(x+y)(xy)=(1z)(1+z),(z1)(xy)=(z1)(1+z),(z1)(xy+z+1)=0. \begin{aligned} x^2 - y^2 &= 1 - z^2, \\ (x + y)(x - y) &= (1 - z)(1 + z), \\ (z - 1)(x - y) &= -(z - 1)(1 + z), \\ (z - 1)(x - y + z + 1) &= 0. \end{aligned}
There are now two cases: z=1z = 1 or xy+z+1=0x - y + z + 1 = 0.

If z=1z = 1, then x+y=0x + y = 0, i.e. x=yx = -y. Plugging this into the third equation we get 2y3=22y^3 = -2, i.e. y=1y = -1, x=1x = 1.

If xy+z+1=0x - y + z + 1 = 0, then plugging z=x+y1z = -x + y - 1 into the first equation yields 2x=22x = -2, i.e. x=1x = -1.
Now we have z=1+y1=yz = -1 + y - 1 = y, which we can combine with the third equation to get 2y3=22y^3 = -2, i.e. y=z=1y = z = -1.

Thus, the possible solutions to the given system of equations are (1,1,1)(1, -1, 1) and (1,1,1)(-1, -1, -1). A direct computation confirms that both are indeed valid solutions of the system.

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