Let be a given positive integer. Determine all positive divisors of such that is the square of an integer.
Solution
If divides , then there exist positive integers and such that and . We substitute to get , so . We deduce that is a perfect square. From the inequalities we deduce that which implies and which verifies the problem.
Alternative Solution:
Let be a divisor of such that . We have and . Denote , and . Since divides , we have . The numbers and are co-prime, therefore . The case implies , which is not possible. The only possibility is and , meaning that and . Finally we have and .
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