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Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all quadruples (x,y,z,w) (x, y, z, w) of integers satisfying the system of equations
x+y+z+w=xy+yz+zx+w2−w=xyz−w3=−1. x + y + z + w = x y + y z + z x + w^{2} - w = x y z - w^{3} = -1.

Solution

The system is equivalent to
{x+y+z=−(w+1)xy+yz+zx=−(w2−w+1)xyz=w3−1 \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + y + z = -(w + 1) \\ x y + y z + z x = -\left(w^{2} - w + 1\right) \\ x y z = w^{3} - 1 \end{array} \right.
Multiplying the first two equations of the system we get
(x+y+z)(xy+yz+zx)=w3+1. (x + y + z)(x y + y z + z x) = w^{3} + 1.
Eliminating ww between this relation and the last equation, it follows
(x+y+z)(xy+yz+zx)−xyz=2. (x + y + z)(x y + y z + z x) - x y z = 2.
The equation (1) is equivalent to
(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)=2. (x + y)(y + z)(z + x) = 2.
Taking into account the symmetry of equation (3) we have to consider only the following situations:
{x+y=2y+z=−1z+x=−1{x+y=2y+z=1z+x=1{x+y=−2y+z=1z+x=−1 \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + y = 2 \\ y + z = -1 \\ z + x = -1 \end{array} \quad \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + y = 2 \\ y + z = 1 \\ z + x = 1 \end{array} \quad \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + y = -2 \\ y + z = 1 \\ z + x = -1 \end{array} \right. \right. \right.
Because w2−w+1>0w^{2} - w + 1 > 0, from the second equation of (1) it follows that the solutions to the above system must satisfy
xy+yz+zx<0. x y + y z + z x < 0.
The first system has solution (x,y,z)=(1,1,−2)(x, y, z) = (1, 1, -2). Replacing in the first equation of (1) we obtain w=−1w = -1. In this case we get solutions (1,1,−2,−1)(1, 1, -2, -1), (1,−2,1,−1)(1, -2, 1, -1), (−2,1,1,−1)(-2, 1, 1, -1).
The solutions to the second and third system do not satisfy condition xy+yz+zx<0x y + y z + z x < 0, hence they will not give solutions to our problem.

Solution 2:
x,y,zx, y, z are the roots of the polynomial
P(t)=t3+(w+1)t2−(w2−w+1)t−w3+1 P(t) = t^{3} + (w + 1) t^{2} - \left(w^{2} - w + 1\right) t - w^{3} + 1
We have
P(t)=(t+w+1)(t2−w2+w−1)+2. P(t) = (t + w + 1)\left(t^{2} - w^{2} + w - 1\right) + 2.
Since P(x)=0P(x) = 0, it follows
(x+w+1)(x2−w2+w−1)=−2 (x + w + 1)\left(x^{2} - w^{2} + w - 1\right) = -2
There are four possibilities
{x+w+1=1x2−w2+w−1=−2{x+w+1=−1x2−w2+w−1=2 \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + w + 1 = 1 \\ x^{2} - w^{2} + w - 1 = -2 \end{array} \quad \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + w + 1 = -1 \\ x^{2} - w^{2} + w - 1 = 2 \end{array} \right. \right.
{x+w+1=2x2−w2+w−1=−1{x+w+1=−2x2−w2+w−1=1 \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + w + 1 = 2 \\ x^{2} - w^{2} + w - 1 = -1 \end{array} \quad \left\{ \begin{array}{l} x + w + 1 = -2 \\ x^{2} - w^{2} + w - 1 = 1 \end{array} \right. \right.
The second and the fourth system have no solutions in integers. From the first and from the second system we get w=−1w = -1 and w=1w = 1.
If w=−1w = -1, the polynomial PP is P(t)=t3−3t+2P(t) = t^{3} - 3 t + 2 with roots x=y=1,z=−2x = y = 1, z = -2. We get solutions (1,1,−2,−1)(1, 1, -2, -1), (1,−2,1,−1)(1, -2, 1, -1), (−2,1,1,−1)(-2, 1, 1, -1).
If w=1w = 1, the polynomial PP is P(t)=t3+2t2−tP(t) = t^{3} + 2 t^{2} - t and not all the roots are integers.

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