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Number theory Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Find all triples of natural numbers (x,y,z)(x, y, z) satisfying the system of equations
{x+yz=23,x2+y2z2=23. \begin{cases} x + y - z = 23, \\ x^2 + y^2 - z^2 = 23. \end{cases}

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Substituting z=x+y23z = x + y - 23 from the first equation into the second yields x2+y2(x+y23)2=23x^2 + y^2 - (x + y - 23)^2 = 23 which simplifies to
xy23x23y=2312.xy - 23x - 23y = -23 \cdot 12.
Adding 232323 \cdot 23 to both sides and factoring yields
(x23)(y23)=2311. (x - 23)(y - 23) = 23 \cdot 11.
As 2323 and 1111 are primes, the only factors on the right hand side are 11, 1111, 2323 and 112311 \cdot 23. Thus x=23+1=24x = 23 + 1 = 24, x=23+11=34x = 23 + 11 = 34, x=23+23=46x = 23 + 23 = 46 or x=1223=276x = 12 \cdot 23 = 276; The corresponding values of yy are 276276, 4646, 3434, 2424 and the values of zz are 277277, 5757, 5757, 277277. The negative factors of 231123 \cdot 11 don't yield solutions, as zz would be negative.

Solution 2

Substituting z=x+y23z = x + y - 23 from the first equation into the second and simplifying like in Solution 1 yields
xy=23x+23y2312.(1) xy = 23x + 23y - 23 \cdot 12. \tag{1}
The right hand side of (1) is divisible by 2323, so the left side must be as well.
Thus xx or yy is divisible by 2323. Let x=23kx = 23k (in the other case we may swap xx and yy due to symmetry). Substituting it into (1) and dividing the sides by 2323 yields ky=23k+y12ky = 23k + y - 12, from which k=y12y23=1+11y23k = \frac{y-12}{y-23} = 1 + \frac{11}{y-23}. For kk to be a positive integer, there are two possibilities:
* if y23=11y - 23 = 11, then k1=1k - 1 = 1, which yields y=34y = 34, x=46x = 46, z=57z = 57;
* if y23=1y - 23 = 1, then k1=11k - 1 = 11, which yields y=24y = 24, x=276x = 276, z=277z = 277.
In addition to those, we get the solutions with xx and yy swapped.

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