Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Find all triples of positive integers (x,y,z)(x, y, z), for which xy!+2yx!=z!x \cdot y! + 2y \cdot x! = z!.

Solution

Since the left-hand side is greater than both x!x! and y!y!, obviously z>xz > x and z>yz > y. So, both sides of the equation are divisible by both x!x! and y!y!. Therefore, xy!x \cdot y! is divisible by x!x!, which means that y!y! is divisible by (x1)!(x-1)!, giving yx1y \ge x-1. Analogously, 2yx!2y \cdot x! is divisible by y!y!, meaning 2x!2 \cdot x! is divisible by (y1)!(y-1)!. The case x=1,y=3x=1, y=3 is not a solution, the case x>1x > 1 gives 2x!<(x+1)!2 \cdot x! < (x+1)!, which implies xy1x \ge y-1. This leaves us to look through the cases 1yx1-1 \le y-x \le 1.
* If y=x1y = x - 1, then the equation simplifies to (2x1)x!=z!(2x-1) \cdot x! = z!. As (x+1)(x+2)>2x1(x+1)(x+2) > 2x-1, we have 2x1=x+12x-1 = x+1 and z=x+1z = x+1. This gives the solution x=2,y=1,z=3x=2, y=1, z=3.

* If y=xy = x, the equation simplifies to 3xx!=z!3x \cdot x! = z!. As (x+1)(x+2)>3x(x+1)(x+2) > 3x, we have 3x=x+13x = x + 1, but this does not give integer solutions.
* If y=x+1y = x + 1, the equation simplifies to (x2+3x+2)x!=z!(x^2 + 3x + 2) \cdot x! = z! or (x+2)!=z!(x + 2)! = z!. From here we get a family of solutions x=n,y=n+1,z=n+2x = n, y = n + 1, z = n + 2.

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