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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 pqr0pqr \neq 0 and ss is a rational number. Then p+q=sr\sqrt{p} + \sqrt{q} = s - \sqrt{r} and we get by squaring that
p+q+2pq=s2+r2sr2pq=s2+rpq2sr 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+4s2r4Msr4pq = M^2 + 4s^2 r - 4Ms\sqrt{r}, where M=s2+rpq>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
11b+1c+1d3 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 bcd>1b \geq c \geq d > 1. Then 3d1\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=142005x = 14 \cdot 2005, y=z=22005y = 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 220052 \cdot 2005 and the third one is equal to 14200514 \cdot 2005.

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