Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions /121 of 395

Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

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=2010⋅2011a+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(p−1)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
(x1−1)(x2−1)(x3−1)=−cp−bp−ap−1=−a+b+cp−1=1−p−1=−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,x3≠0x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} \neq 0, we must have x1=2,x2=2,x3=1−px_{1}=2, x_{2}=2, x_{3}=1-p, up to permutation. It follows that
5−p=−ap,4(2−p)=bp,4(1−p)=−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(p−5),4p(2−p),4p(1−p))(p(p-5), 4 p(2-p), 4 p(1-p)).
In our case, p=2011p=2011 and we obtain
(a,b,c)=(2006⋅2011,−4⋅2009⋅2011,4⋅2010⋅2011) (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(p−1)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,x3∈Z∗x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} \in \mathbb{Z}^{*} be its roots. We have
P(x)=p(x−x1)(x−x2)(x−x3) P(x)=p\left(x-x_{1}\right)\left(x-x_{2}\right)\left(x-x_{3}\right)
hence
P(1)=p(1−x1)(1−x2)(1−x3)=p+a+b+c=p+p(p−1)=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
(1−x1)(1−x2)(1−x3)=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,x3≠0x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} \neq 0, we get 1−x1=−1,1−x2=−1,1−x3=p1-x_{1}=-1,1-x_{2}=-1,1-x_{3}=p, hence x1=x2=2x_{1}=x_{2}=2, and x3=1−px_{3}=1-p, up to a permutation of x1,x2,x3x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}. Therefore
P(x)=p(x−2)2(x+p−1)=p(x2−4x+4)(x+p−1)=px3+p(p−5)x2+4p(2−p)x+4p(1−p), \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(p−5),4p(2−p),4p(1−p))(a, b, c)=(p(p-5), 4 p(2-p), 4 p(1-p)).

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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