Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2019

Number theory Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Greece

Let α\alpha and β\beta be two positive integers. Prove that the integer
α2+4α2β \alpha^2 + \left\lfloor \frac{4\alpha^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor
is not a square of an integer.

Solution

We suppose that:
α2+4α2β=(α+κ)2,κN4α2β=(2α+κ)κ,κN. \alpha^2 + \left\lfloor \frac{4\alpha^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = (\alpha + \kappa)^2, \kappa \in \mathbb{N}^* \Leftrightarrow \left\lfloor \frac{4\alpha^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = (2\alpha + \kappa)\kappa, \kappa \in \mathbb{N}^*.
By putting 2α=x2\alpha = x, we have: x2β=(x+κ)κ,κN\left\lfloor \frac{x^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = (x+\kappa)\kappa, \kappa \in \mathbb{N}^*. Equivalently, we have supposed that the equation
x2β=(x+κ)κ,κN(1) \left\lfloor \frac{x^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = (x + \kappa)\kappa, \kappa \in \mathbb{N}^* \quad (1)
has a solution (x,κ)(x, \kappa) in the positive integers with xx even.
We suppose that equation (1) has a solution (x,κ)(x, \kappa), where κ\kappa is the least possible integer and we will try to find a contradiction.
We have:
x2β>x2β1=(x+κ)κ1=xκ+κ21xκxβ>κx>βκ(2) \begin{gathered} \frac{x^2}{\beta} > \left\lfloor \frac{x^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor - 1 = (x+\kappa)\kappa - 1 = x\kappa + \kappa^2 - 1 \ge x\kappa \Rightarrow \frac{x}{\beta} > \kappa \Rightarrow \\ x > \beta\kappa \end{gathered} \quad (2)
Also, we have:
x2κ2β<x2βx2β=(x+κ)κβκxκ.(3) \frac{x^2 - \kappa^2}{\beta} < \frac{x^2}{\beta} \le \left\lfloor \frac{x^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = (x + \kappa)\kappa \Rightarrow \beta\kappa \ge x - \kappa. \quad (3)
From relations (2) (3) it follows that: x>βκxκx > \beta\kappa \ge x - \kappa, and hence there exists υ\upsilon such that:
x=βκ+υ,0<υ<κ(4) x = \beta\kappa + \upsilon, \quad 0 < \upsilon < \kappa \quad (4)
From (3) and (4) we have:
x2β=(βκ+υ)2β=βκ2+2κυ+υ2β(5) \left\lfloor \frac{x^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = \left\lfloor \frac{(\beta\kappa + \upsilon)^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = \beta\kappa^2 + 2\kappa\upsilon + \left\lfloor \frac{\upsilon^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor \quad (5)
(x+κ)κ=(βκ+υ+κ)κ=βκ2+2κυ+κ(κυ)(6) (x + \kappa)\kappa = (\beta\kappa + \upsilon + \kappa)\kappa = \beta\kappa^2 + 2\kappa\upsilon + \kappa(\kappa - \upsilon) \quad (6)
From relations (5) and (6) we get:
υ2β=κ(κυ)    x2β=(x+κ)κ, \left\lfloor \frac{\upsilon^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = \kappa(\kappa - \upsilon) \iff \left\lfloor \frac{x'^2}{\beta} \right\rfloor = (x' + \kappa')\kappa',
From which we conclude that equation (1) has a solution (x,κ)(x', \kappa') in the positive integers with κ=κυ<κ\kappa' = \kappa - \upsilon < \kappa, which is absurd.

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