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Bulgarian Mathematical Olympiad

Number theory Difficulty 6.4 National Olympiad Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
Find all triples (x,y,z)(x, y, z) of positive integers such that
2005x+y+2005x+z+2005y+z \sqrt{\frac{2005}{x+y}} + \sqrt{\frac{2005}{x+z}} + \sqrt{\frac{2005}{y+z}}
is a positive integer.

Solution

Solution:
1. We first prove the following lemma.

LEMMA. If p,q,rp, q, r and p+q+r\sqrt{p} + \sqrt{q} + \sqrt{r} are rational numbers then p\sqrt{p}, q\sqrt{q} and r\sqrt{r} are also rational numbers.

Proof of the lemma. Let p+q+r=s\sqrt{p} + \sqrt{q} + \sqrt{r} = s, where pqr≠0pqr \neq 0 and ss is a rational number. Then p+q=s−r\sqrt{p} + \sqrt{q} = s - \sqrt{r} and we get by squaring that
p+q+2pq=s2+r−2sr⟺2pq=s2+r−p−q−2sr p + q + 2\sqrt{pq} = s^2 + r - 2s\sqrt{r} \Longleftrightarrow 2\sqrt{pq} = s^2 + r - p - q - 2s\sqrt{r}
Squaring the last identity gives 4pq=M2+4s2r−4Msr4pq = M^2 + 4s^2 r - 4Ms\sqrt{r}, where M=s2+r−p−q>0M = s^2 + r - p - q > 0. Therefore r\sqrt{r} is rational and we see in the same way that p\sqrt{p} and q\sqrt{q} are rational. This completes the proof of the lemma.

Let the positive integers x,yx, y and zz have the required property. Then the lemma implies that 2005x+y\sqrt{\frac{2005}{x+y}}, 2005x+z\sqrt{\frac{2005}{x+z}} and 2005y+z\sqrt{\frac{2005}{y+z}} are rational numbers. Set 2005x+y=ab\sqrt{\frac{2005}{x+y}} = \frac{a}{b}, where aa and bb are coprime positive integers. Then 2005b2=(x+y)a22005 b^2 = (x+y) a^2 and it follows that a2a^2 divides 20052005. Hence a=1a = 1 and therefore x+y=2005b2x + y = 2005 b^2. In the same way we obtain x+z=2005c2x + z = 2005 c^2 and y+z=2005d2y + z = 2005 d^2, where cc and dd are positive integers. Then
2005x+y+2005x+z+2005y+z=1b+1c+1d \sqrt{\frac{2005}{x+y}} + \sqrt{\frac{2005}{x+z}} + \sqrt{\frac{2005}{y+z}} = \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} + \frac{1}{d}
is a positive integer. Since b,cb, c and dd are positive integers, we have
1≤1b+1c+1d≤3 1 \leq \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} + \frac{1}{d} \leq 3
If 1b+1c+1d=3\frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} + \frac{1}{d} = 3, then b=c=d=1b = c = d = 1 and the system x+y=x+z=y+z=2005x + y = x + z = y + z = 2005 has no solutions in positive integers.

If 1b+1c+1d=2\frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} + \frac{1}{d} = 2, then one of the numbers b,cb, c and dd is equal to 11 and the other two are equal to 22. Again, the system for x,yx, y and zz has no solutions in positive integers.

It remains to consider the case 1b+1c+1d=1\frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} + \frac{1}{d} = 1. Suppose that b≥c≥d>1b \geq c \geq d > 1. Then 3d≥1\frac{3}{d} \geq 1 and therefore d=2d = 2 or d=3d = 3. If d=3d = 3 we get b=c=3b = c = 3, and if d=2d = 2 we have 1b+1c=12\frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} = \frac{1}{2}. This equation has two solutions: b=3,c=6b = 3, c = 6 and b=c=4b = c = 4.

The inspection shows that the system for x,yx, y and zz has a solution in positive integers only when d=2,b=c=4d = 2, b = c = 4 and in this case x=14⋅2005x = 14 \cdot 2005, y=z=2⋅2005y = z = 2 \cdot 2005. Therefore the solutions of the problem are all triples (x,y,z)(x, y, z) in which two numbers are equal to 2⋅20052 \cdot 2005 and the third one is equal to 14⋅200514 \cdot 2005.

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