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Number theory Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Find all positive integers nn such that equation
3a2b2=2018n 3a^2 - b^2 = 2018^n
has a solution in integers aa and bb.

Solution

Answer: all odd numbers.
For n=1n = 1 there is a solution 3272132=201813 \cdot 27^2 - 13^2 = 2018^1. For any odd number n=2k+1n = 2k+1 from the latter equality we can obtain the equality 3(272018k)2(132018k)2=20182k+13 \cdot (27 \cdot 2018^k)^2 - (13 \cdot 2018^k)^2 = 2018^{2k+1}, which means that all odd nn satisfy the conditions of the problem.

If nn is even, 2018n2n1(mod3)2018^n \equiv 2^n \equiv 1 \pmod{3}. But the left side of this equality cannot be equal to 1 modulo 3, since the perfect squares are congruent to 0 or 1 modulo 3. Hence, there are no even numbers nn satisfying the conditions of the problem.

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