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Number theory Difficulty 6.5 National olympiad Prove it Romania

For nNn \in \mathbb{N}, consider the system (Sn):={x2+ny2=z2nx2+y2=t2(S_n) := \begin{cases} x^2 + n y^2 = z^2 \\ n x^2 + y^2 = t^2 \end{cases}, where x,y,z,tNx, y, z, t \in \mathbb{N}. If M1={nNsystem (Sn) has infinitely many solutions}M_1 = \{ n \in \mathbb{N} \mid \text{system } (S_n) \text{ has infinitely many solutions} \}, and M2={nNsystem (Sn) has no solutions}M_2 = \{ n \in \mathbb{N} \mid \text{system } (S_n) \text{ has no solutions} \}, prove that:

a) 7M1,10M27 \in M_1, 10 \in M_2;

b) sets M1M_1 and M2M_2 are infinite.

Solution

a) Notice that x=1,y=3,z=8,t=4x = 1, y = 3, z = 8, t = 4 is a solution to the system (S7)(S_7), and so is (k,3k,8k,4k)(k, 3k, 8k, 4k), for any kNk \in \mathbb{N}, hence 7M17 \in M_1.

If (x,y,z,t)(x, y, z, t) is a solution to the system (S10)(S_{10}), it would follow that 11(x2+y2)=z2+t211(x^2 + y^2) = z^2 + t^2. From 11z2+t211 \mid z^2 + t^2 we get 11z11 \mid z and 11t11 \mid t. Then 11x2+y211 \mid x^2 + y^2, hence 11x11 \mid x and 11y11 \mid y. Therefore, there exist x1,y1,z1,t1Nx_1, y_1, z_1, t_1 \in \mathbb{N} such that x=11x1,y=11y1,z=11z1,t=11t1x = 11x_1, y = 11y_1, z = 11z_1, t = 11t_1. This leads to 11(x12+y12)=z12+t1211(x_1^2 + y_1^2) = z_1^2 + t_1^2. By continuing this procedure ("infinite descent"), we get that xx is a multiple of any power of 1111, and, as x0x \neq 0, we arrive to a contradiction. In conclusion, the system (S10)(S_{10}) has no solutions, i.e. 10M210 \in M_2.

b) It is easy to see that any number nn of the form m21m^2 - 1, mNm \in \mathbb{N}, belongs to M1M_1: we can choose x=yx = y and notice that (k,k,mk,mk)(k, k, mk, mk), kNk \in \mathbb{N}, are solutions to the system (Sm21)(S_{m^2-1}), hence m21M1,mNm^2 - 1 \in M_1, \forall m \in \mathbb{N}. Applying the same steps as we did above for n=10n = 10, it is easy to prove that if pp is a prime of the form 4m+34m + 3, and n=p1n = p - 1, then nM2n \in M_2. As there are infinitely many such primes, the conclusion follows readily. One can prove that actually any number congruent to 2(mod4)2 \pmod{4} belongs to M2M_2.

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