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Number theory Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Hong Kong

Let pp be a prime number greater than 55. Suppose there is an integer kk satisfying that k2+5k^2 + 5 is divisible by pp. Prove that there are positive integers mm and nn such that p2=m2+5n2p^2 = m^2 + 5n^2.

Solution

Consider all numbers of the form a+bka + b k where a,ba, b are integers with 0a,b<p0 \le a, b < \sqrt{p}. Since there are more than (p)2=p(\sqrt{p})^2 = p numbers, by the pigeonhole principle, two of them must be congruent modulo pp. Their difference, which is of the form c+dkc + d k with c,d<p|c|, |d| < \sqrt{p} and (c,d)(0,0)(c, d) \ne (0, 0), is divisible by pp. Now, note that
(c+dk)(cdk)=c2d2k2c2+5d2(modp). (c + d k)(c - d k) = c^2 - d^2 k^2 \equiv c^2 + 5 d^2 \pmod{p}.
Therefore, pc2+5d2p \mid c^2 + 5 d^2. Since
0<c2+5d2<p+5p=6p, 0 < c^2 + 5 d^2 < p + 5p = 6p,
we must have c2+5d2=rpc^2 + 5 d^2 = r p with r=1,2,3,4,5r = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

* If c2+5d2=pc^2 + 5 d^2 = p, then
(c25d2)2+5(2cd)2=(c2+5d2)2=p2. (c^2 - 5 d^2)^2 + 5 (2 c d)^2 = (c^2 + 5 d^2)^2 = p^2.
Clearly, c,d0c, d \ne 0. So we can take (m,n)=(c25d2,2cd)(m, n) = (|c^2 - 5 d^2|, 2|c d|).

* If c2+5d2=2pc^2 + 5 d^2 = 2p, then c,dc, d are odd as 2p2(mod4)2p \equiv 2 \pmod{4}. Therefore, we have
(c25d22)2+5(cd)2=(c2+5d22)2=p2. \left(\frac{c^2 - 5 d^2}{2}\right)^2 + 5 (c d)^2 = \left(\frac{c^2 + 5 d^2}{2}\right)^2 = p^2.
So we can take (m,n)=(c25d22,cd)(m, n) = \left(\left|\frac{c^2 - 5 d^2}{2}\right|, |c d|\right).

* If c2+5d2=3pc^2 + 5 d^2 = 3p, then 3c±d3 \mid c \pm d as 93p9 \mid 3p. Therefore, 3c±d3 \mid c \pm d for some choice of the sign. Then we have
(c5d3)2+5(c±d3)2=2(c2+5d2)3=2p \left( \frac{c \mp 5 d}{3} \right)^2 + 5 \left( \frac{c \pm d}{3} \right)^2 = \frac{2(c^2 + 5 d^2)}{3} = 2p
with c5d3\frac{c \mp 5 d}{3} and c±d3\frac{c \pm d}{3} nonzero. Thus, this is reduced to the second case.

* If c2+5d2=4pc^2 + 5 d^2 = 4p, then c,dc, d are even. Therefore, we have
(c2)2+5(d2)2=p, \left(\frac{c}{2}\right)^2 + 5\left(\frac{d}{2}\right)^2 = p,
which is reduced to the first case.

* If c2+5d2=5pc^2 + 5 d^2 = 5p, then 5c5 \mid c. Therefore, we have
d2+5(c5)2=p, d^2 + 5 \left( \frac{c}{5} \right)^2 = p,
which is reduced to the first case.

Since all cases are exhausted, we are done.

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