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Silk Road Mathematics Competition competition problems

Number theory Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Silk Road Mathematics Competition

Determine all prime numbers pp for which there are integers mm and nn such that p=m2+n2p = m^2 + n^2 and p∣m3+n3−4p \mid m^3 + n^3 - 4.

Solution

Considering all integers ∣m∣,∣n∣≤3|m|, |n| \le 3 we can get the solutions 2=12+122 = 1^2 + 1^2, 5=12+225 = 1^2 + 2^2 and 13=(−3)2+(−2)213 = (-3)^2 + (-2)^2. Now, let's prove that there is no other prime numbers satisfying the statement. We have
p=m2+n2⇒p=(m+n)2−2mn⇒mn=(m+n)2−p2, p = m^2 + n^2 \Rightarrow p = (m + n)^2 - 2mn \Rightarrow mn = \frac{(m + n)^2 - p}{2},
m3+n3−4=(m+n)3−3mn(m+n)−4=−(m+n)3+3p(m+n)−82, m^3 + n^3 - 4 = (m + n)^3 - 3mn(m + n) - 4 = \frac{-(m + n)^3 + 3p(m + n) - 8}{2},
p∣m3+n3−4⇒p∣(m+n)3+8. p \mid m^3 + n^3 - 4 \Rightarrow p \mid (m + n)^3 + 8.
Hence, p∣m+n+2p \mid m+n+2 or p∣(m+n)2−2(m+n)+4p \mid (m+n)^2 - 2(m+n) + 4, and from last we conclude that p∣mn−m−n+2p \mid mn - m - n + 2, if we set p>2p > 2.
In a first case we have:
p∣m+n+2⇒m2+n2≤∣m+n+2∣, p \mid m + n + 2 \Rightarrow m^2 + n^2 \le |m + n + 2|,
i.e.
m2+n2≤m+n+2⇒(2m−1)2+(2n−1)2≤10⇒−1≤m,n≤2. m^2 + n^2 \le m + n + 2 \Rightarrow (2m - 1)^2 + (2n - 1)^2 \le 10 \Rightarrow -1 \le m, n \le 2.
m2+n2≤−(m+n+2)⇒(2m+1)2+(2n+1)2≤−6, m^2 + n^2 \le -(m+n+2) \Rightarrow (2m+1)^2 + (2n+1)^2 \le -6,
which is a contradiction.
In a second case:
p∣mn−m−n+2⇒m2+n2≤∣mn−m−n+2∣, p \mid mn - m - n + 2 \Rightarrow m^2 + n^2 \le |mn - m - n + 2|,
i.e.
m2+n2≤mn−m−n+2⇒(2m−n+1)2+3(n+1)2≤12⇒−3≤m,n≤1. m^2 + n^2 \le mn - m - n + 2 \Rightarrow (2m - n + 1)^2 + 3(n + 1)^2 \le 12 \Rightarrow -3 \le m, n \le 1.
m2+n2≤−(mn−m−n+2)⇒(2m+n−1)2+3(n−1/3)2≤−20/3, m^2 + n^2 \le -(mn - m - n + 2) \Rightarrow (2m + n - 1)^2 + 3(n - 1/3)^2 \le -20/3,
which is a contradiction.

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