Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2008

Number theory Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Find all integers nn such that n4+8n+11n^{4}+8 n+11 is a product of two or more consecutive integers.

Solution

Solution:
We will prove that n4+8n+11n^{4}+8 n+11 is never a multiple of 33. This is clear if nn is a multiple of 33. If nn is not a multiple of 33, then
n4+8n+11=(n41)+12+8n=(n1)(n+1)(n2+1)+12+8n, n^{4}+8 n+11 = (n^{4}-1) + 12 + 8 n = (n-1)(n+1)(n^{2}+1) + 12 + 8 n,
where 8n8 n is the only term not divisible by 33. Thus n4+8n+11n^{4}+8 n+11 is never the product of three or more consecutive integers.

It remains to discuss the case when n4+8n+11=y(y+1)n^{4}+8 n+11 = y(y+1) for some integer yy. We write this as
4(n4+8n+11)=4y(y+1) 4(n^{4}+8 n+11) = 4 y(y+1)
or
4n4+32n+45=(2y+1)2. 4 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 y + 1)^{2}.
A check shows that among n=±1n = \pm 1 and n=0n = 0 only n=1n = 1 satisfies the requirement, as 14+81+11=20=451^{4} + 8 \cdot 1 + 11 = 20 = 4 \cdot 5.

Now let n2|n| \geq 2. The identities
4n4+32n+45=(2n22)2+8(n+2)2+9 4 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 n^{2} - 2)^{2} + 8(n+2)^{2} + 9
and
4n4+32n+45=(2n2+8)232n(n1)19 4 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 n^{2} + 8)^{2} - 32 n(n-1) - 19
indicate that for n2|n| \geq 2, 2n22<2y+1<2n2+82 n^{2} - 2 < 2 y + 1 < 2 n^{2} + 8. But 2y+12 y + 1 is odd, so it can equal 2n2±12 n^{2} \pm 1, 2n2+32 n^{2} + 3, 2n2+52 n^{2} + 5, or 2n2+72 n^{2} + 7. We investigate them one by one.

If 4n4+32n+45=(2n21)24 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 n^{2} - 1)^{2}:
n2+8n+11=0    (n+4)2=5, n^{2} + 8 n + 11 = 0 \implies (n+4)^{2} = 5,
which is impossible, as 55 is not a perfect square.

If 4n4+32n+45=(2n2+1)24 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 n^{2} + 1)^{2}:
n28n11=0    (n4)2=27, n^{2} - 8 n - 11 = 0 \implies (n-4)^{2} = 27,
which also fails.

Also, 4n4+32n+45=(2n2+3)24 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 n^{2} + 3)^{2}:
3n28n9=0    9n224n27=0    (3n4)2=43, 3 n^{2} - 8 n - 9 = 0 \implies 9 n^{2} - 24 n - 27 = 0 \implies (3 n - 4)^{2} = 43,
fails.

If 4n4+32n+45=(2n2+5)24 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 n^{2} + 5)^{2}:
5n28n=5    25n240n=25    (5n4)2=41, 5 n^{2} - 8 n = 5 \implies 25 n^{2} - 40 n = 25 \implies (5 n - 4)^{2} = 41,
which also fails.

Finally, if 4n4+32n+45=(2n2+7)24 n^{4} + 32 n + 45 = (2 n^{2} + 7)^{2}, then
28n232n+4=0    4(n1)(7n1)=0, 28 n^{2} - 32 n + 4 = 0 \implies 4(n-1)(7 n-1) = 0,
whence n=1n = 1 that we already found.

Thus the only solution is n=1n = 1.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.