Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Determine all triples (m,n,p)(m, n, p) satisfying
n2p=m2+n2+p+1 n^{2p} = m^2 + n^2 + p + 1
where mm and nn are integers and pp is a prime number.

Solution

Solution:
By Fermat's theorem n2pn2(modp)n^{2p} \equiv n^2 \pmod{p}, therefore m2+n2+p+1n2(modp)m21(modp)m^2 + n^2 + p + 1 \equiv n^2 \pmod{p} \Rightarrow m^2 \equiv -1 \pmod{p}.

Case 1: p=4k+3p = 4k + 3. We have (m2)2k+1(1)2k+1(modp)(m^2)^{2k+1} \equiv (-1)^{2k+1} \pmod{p}. Therefore,
mp11(modp) m^{p-1} \equiv -1 \pmod{p}
and pp does not divide mm. On the other hand, by Fermat's theorem
mp11(modp) m^{p-1} \equiv 1 \pmod{p}
(28) and (29) yield p=2p = 2. Thus, p4k+3p \neq 4k + 3.

Case 2: p=4k+1p = 4k + 1. Let us consider (27) in mod 4. n2=0n^2 = 0 or 11 in mod 4. In both cases n2p=n2(mod4)n^{2p} = n^2 \pmod{4}. From (27) we get n2m2+n2+1+1(mod4)n^2 \equiv m^2 + n^2 + 1 + 1 \pmod{4}. Therefore, m22(mod4)m^2 \equiv -2 \pmod{4}, and again there is no solution.

Case 3: p=2p = 2. The given equation is written as
n4n23=m2 n^4 - n^2 - 3 = m^2
Let l=n2l = n^2. Readily, we do not get any solution for l=0l = 0, 11. If l=4l = 4, then there are four solutions: (3,2,2),(3,2,2),(3,2,2),(3,2,2)(3,2,2), (-3,2,2), (3,-2,2), (-3,-2,2). There is no solution for l>4l > 4, since in this case
(l1)2=l22l+1<m2=l2l3<l2 (l-1)^2 = l^2 - 2l + 1 < m^2 = l^2 - l - 3 < l^2
Thus, (27) has four solutions: (3,2,2),(3,2,2),(3,2,2),(3,2,2)(3,2,2), (-3,2,2), (3,-2,2), (-3,-2,2) and we are done.

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