Solve the following system of equations in the set of rational numbers:
Solution
We first note that is obviously a solution of the system of equations. We will now show that there are no others.
Let with relatively prime integer values of and and . We then have
and this fraction cannot be simplified, since and are relatively prime. Further substitutions then yield and , and since these fractions similarly cannot be simplified, follows. We see that (and also and ) must be integers. For integer values not equal to , we have , and since equality must hold if the three equations are multiplied, this yields a contradiction. We see that is indeed the only solution, as claimed.
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