Number theoryDifficulty 7.9National Olympiad, round 2Prove itGermany
Problem: Determine all pairs (x,y) of integers which satisfy the equation 37x2−13xy+7y2=∣x−y∣+1
Solution
Solution: Equation (1) is symmetric in x and y, so that we may first assume x≥y and obtain, for every solution (x,y) with x=y, also (y,x) as a solution. With d=x−y≥0 it follows that 37d2+xy=d+1. Raising to a power gives x2−dx+(−d3+4d2−3d−1)=0 with discriminant D=d2−4(−d3+4d2−3d−1)=(d−2)2(4d+1)≥0. Thus x1/2=2d±(d−2)4d+1. For x to be an integer, 4d+1 must be a perfect square, and in fact the square of an odd number. The ansatz 4d+1=(2m+1)2 with m∈{0;1;2;…} gives d=m2+m, so that we obtain x1/2=21[(m2+m)±(m2+m−2)(2m+1)]. This leads to (x1,y1)=(m3+2m2−m−1,m3+m2−2m−1) and, for m=1, to (x2,y2)=(−m3−m2+2m+1,−m3−2m2+m+1) and the solutions (y1,x1) resp. (y2,x2) for m>0. A check confirms that these pairs are indeed solutions.
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Source: MathNet,
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