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Number theory Difficulty 6.7 National olympiad Prove it Czech Republic

Let p>3p > 3 be a prime. Find the number of ordered sextuples (a,b,c,d,e,f)(a, b, c, d, e, f) of positive integers, whose sum is 3p3p, and all the fractions
a+bc+d,b+cd+e,c+de+f,d+ef+a,e+fa+b \frac{a+b}{c+d}, \quad \frac{b+c}{d+e}, \quad \frac{c+d}{e+f}, \quad \frac{d+e}{f+a}, \quad \frac{e+f}{a+b}
are integers.

Solution

Taking the product of the 1st, the 3rd and the 5th fractions reveals that their value has to be 1, that is
a+b=c+d=e+f=p.(1) a + b = c + d = e + f = p. \tag{1}
the form of the second and of the fourth fraction implies
f+ad+eandd+eb+c.(2) f + a \mid d + e \quad \text{and} \quad d + e \mid b + c. \tag{2}
that is first f+af + a is at most the arithmetic mean of its multiples,
f+a13((f+a)+(d+e)+(b+c))=p,(3) f + a \le \frac{1}{3}((f+a) + (d+e) + (b+c)) = p, \tag{3}
and
f+a(f+a)+(d+e)+(b+c)=3p. f + a \mid (f + a) + (d + e) + (b + c) = 3p.
Thus f+af + a divides 3p3p and is in the interval 2,p\langle 2, p \rangle. Consequently either f+a=pf + a = p or f+a=3f + a = 3. We deal separately with these cases.

i) Let f+a=pf + a = p. Because of (3) there is f+a=d+e=b+c=pf + a = d + e = b + c = p, which together with (1) gives p1p - 1 solutions of the form
(a,b,c,d,e,f)=(a,pa,a,pa,a,pa),where a{1,2,,p1}. (a, b, c, d, e, f) = (a, p-a, a, p-a, a, p-a), \quad \text{where } a \in \{1, 2, \dots, p-1\}.

ii) Let f+a=3f + a = 3. Then {a,f}={1,2}\{a, f\} = \{1, 2\}.

Firstly let a=1a = 1 and f=2f = 2. According to (1) then b=p1b = p - 1 and e=p2e = p - 2, and (2) has the form
3d+(p2)andd+(p2)(p1)+c.(4) 3 \mid d + (p-2) \quad \text{and} \quad d + (p-2) \mid (p-1) + c. \tag{4}
In analyzing (4) we distinguish between d=1d = 1 and d2d \ge 2.

If d=1d = 1 then c=p1c = p - 1 and (4) reads
3p1ap12(p1). 3 \mid p-1 \quad \text{a} \quad p-1 \mid 2(p-1).
While the right relation always holds, the left one holds only for p=3q+1p = 3q + 1 (qq is a suitable positive integer). For such prime numbers we get considering (1) solutions
(a,b,c,d,e,f)=(1,p1,p1,1,p2,2). (a, b, c, d, e, f) = (1, p-1, p-1, 1, p-2, 2).
If d2d \ge 2 we show first, that the right relation in (4) is satisfied if and only if d+(p2)=(p1)+cd + (p-2) = (p-1) + c or d=c+1d = c + 1. d2d \ge 2 namely implies c=pdp2c = p - d \le p - 2, thus
d+(p2)pand(p1)+c2p3<2p d + (p - 2) \ge p \quad \text{and} \quad (p - 1) + c \le 2p - 3 < 2p
and d+(p2)=(p1)+cd + (p - 2) = (p - 1) + c. From c+d=pc + d = p and d=c+1d = c + 1 we get c=12(p1)c = \frac{1}{2}(p - 1)
a d=12(p+1)d = \frac{1}{2}(p + 1). Since d+(p2)=32(p1)d + (p - 2) = \frac{3}{2}(p - 1), the left relation in (4) is fulfilled and
(a,b,c,d,e,f)=(1,p1,12(p1),12(p+1),p2,2). (a, b, c, d, e, f) = (1, p-1, \frac{1}{2}(p-1), \frac{1}{2}(p+1), p-2, 2).
is a solution.

Finally a=2a = 2 and f=1f = 1. In this case b=p2b = p - 2 a e=p1e = p - 1, and (2) reads
3d+(p1)andd+(p1)(p2)+c.(5) 3 \mid d + (p-1) \quad \text{and} \quad d + (p-1) \mid (p-2) + c. \qquad (5)
Because
d+(p1)pand(p2)+c<2p, d + (p - 1) \ge p \quad \text{and} \quad (p - 2) + c < 2p,
the right relation in (5) holds if and only if d+(p1)=(p2)+cd + (p-1) = (p-2) + c, that is iff c=d+1c = d+1. Together with c+d=pc+d=p we get c=12(p+1)c = \frac{1}{2}(p+1) and d=12(p1)d = \frac{1}{2}(p-1), thus the right relation in (5) holds as well, and the last solution is
(a,b,c,d,e,f)=(2,p2,12(p+1),12(p1),p1,1). (a, b, c, d, e, f) = (2, p-2, \frac{1}{2}(p+1), \frac{1}{2}(p-1), p-1, 1).

Conclusion. All the solutions found are apparently mutually different and their number depends on pp modulo 33 (p>3p > 3): If p=3q+1p = 3q + 1 then there are p+2p + 2 sextuples, if p=3q+2p = 3q + 2, there are p+1p + 1 sextuples.

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