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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all triples (a,b,c)(a, b, c) of integers such that a+b+c=20102011a+b+c=2010 \cdot 2011 and the solutions to the equation 2011x3+ax2+bx+c=02011 x^{3}+a x^{2}+b x+c=0 are all nonzero integers.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

For a prime pp consider the equation
px3+ax2+bx+c=0 p x^{3}+a x^{2}+b x+c=0
where a+b+c=p(p1)a+b+c=p(p-1). Let x1,x2,x3x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} be its roots. From Viète's relation,
x1+x2+x3=apx1x2+x2x3+x3x1=bpx1x2x3=cp \begin{gathered} x_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}=-\frac{a}{p} \\ x_{1} x_{2}+x_{2} x_{3}+x_{3} x_{1}=\frac{b}{p} \\ x_{1} x_{2} x_{3}=-\frac{c}{p} \end{gathered}
We have
(x11)(x21)(x31)=cpbpap1=a+b+cp1=1p1=p \begin{gathered} \left(x_{1}-1\right)\left(x_{2}-1\right)\left(x_{3}-1\right)=-\frac{c}{p}-\frac{b}{p}-\frac{a}{p}-1 \\ =-\frac{a+b+c}{p}-1=1-p-1=-p \end{gathered}
Because x1,x2,x30x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} \neq 0, we must have x1=2,x2=2,x3=1px_{1}=2, x_{2}=2, x_{3}=1-p, up to permutation. It follows that
5p=ap,4(2p)=bp,4(1p)=cp 5-p=-\frac{a}{p}, \quad 4(2-p)=\frac{b}{p}, \quad 4(1-p)=-\frac{c}{p}
hence all triples are (p(p5),4p(2p),4p(1p))(p(p-5), 4 p(2-p), 4 p(1-p)).
In our case, p=2011p=2011 and we obtain
(a,b,c)=(20062011,420092011,420102011) (a, b, c)=(2006 \cdot 2011,-4 \cdot 2009 \cdot 2011,4 \cdot 2010 \cdot 2011)

Solution 2

As in the previous solution assume that pp is a prime and a+b+1=p(p1)a+b+1=p(p-1). Consider the polynomial
P(x)=px3+ax2+bx+c P(x)=p x^{3}+a x^{2}+b x+c
and let x1,x2,x3Zx_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} \in \mathbb{Z}^{*} be its roots. We have
P(x)=p(xx1)(xx2)(xx3) P(x)=p\left(x-x_{1}\right)\left(x-x_{2}\right)\left(x-x_{3}\right)
hence
P(1)=p(1x1)(1x2)(1x3)=p+a+b+c=p+p(p1)=p2P(1)=p\left(1-x_{1}\right)\left(1-x_{2}\right)\left(1-x_{3}\right)=p+a+b+c=p+p(p-1)=p^{2}.
It follows
(1x1)(1x2)(1x3)=p \begin{equation*} \left(1-x_{1}\right)\left(1-x_{2}\right)\left(1-x_{3}\right)=p \tag{1} \end{equation*}
Since x1,x2,x30x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} \neq 0, we get 1x1=1,1x2=1,1x3=p1-x_{1}=-1,1-x_{2}=-1,1-x_{3}=p, hence x1=x2=2x_{1}=x_{2}=2, and x3=1px_{3}=1-p, up to a permutation of x1,x2,x3x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}. Therefore
P(x)=p(x2)2(x+p1)=p(x24x+4)(x+p1)=px3+p(p5)x2+4p(2p)x+4p(1p), \begin{aligned} P(x) & =p(x-2)^{2}(x+p-1)=p\left(x^{2}-4 x+4\right)(x+p-1) \\ & =p x^{3}+p(p-5) x^{2}+4 p(2-p) x+4 p(1-p), \end{aligned}
hence (a,b,c)=(p(p5),4p(2p),4p(1p))(a, b, c)=(p(p-5), 4 p(2-p), 4 p(1-p)).

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