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Number theory Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Croatia

Let aa, bb, cc be distinct positive integers and let rr, ss, tt be positive integers such that:
ab+1=r2,ac+1=s2,bc+1=t2. ab + 1 = r^2, \quad ac + 1 = s^2, \quad bc + 1 = t^2.
Prove that it is not possible that all three fractions rst\frac{rs}{t}, rts\frac{rt}{s} and str\frac{st}{r} are positive integers. (Miljen Mikić)

Solution

Assume on the contrary that rst\frac{rs}{t}, rts\frac{rt}{s}, str\frac{st}{r} are positive integers.
Without loss of generality we may assume that a<b<ca < b < c. Since rst\frac{rs}{t} is a positive integer, r2s2t2\frac{r^2 s^2}{t^2} is also a positive integer, and hence
r2s2t2=a2bc+ab+ac+1bc+1=a2+ab+ac+1a2bc+1 \frac{r^2 s^2}{t^2} = \frac{a^2 bc + ab + ac + 1}{bc + 1} = a^2 + \frac{ab + ac + 1 - a^2}{bc + 1}
is also a positive integer. Since a<b<ca < b < c, we have
ab+ac+1a2>ac+1=s2>0. ab + ac + 1 - a^2 > ac + 1 = s^2 > 0.
Therefore, both the numerator and the denominator of the fraction ab+ac+1a2bc+1\frac{ab + ac + 1 - a^2}{bc + 1} are positive, so
ab+ac+1a2bc+1    (ba)(ca)0, ab + ac + 1 - a^2 \geq bc + 1 \implies (b-a)(c-a) \leq 0,
which is a contradiction.

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