Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Hellenic Mathematical Olympiad /15 of 57

Hellenic Mathematical Olympiad

Number theory Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Greece

Solve in the set of integers the equation: y=2x2+5xy+3y2y = 2x^2 + 5xy + 3y^2.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

The equation can be written as
y=2x2+2xy+3xy+3y2⇔y=(x+y)(2x+3y).(1) y = 2x^2 + 2xy + 3xy + 3y^2 \Leftrightarrow y = (x+y)(2x+3y). \quad (1)
By putting x+y=z∈Zx+y=z \in \mathbb{Z}, then equation (1) is written
y=z(2z+y)⇔y=2z2+yz⇔(z−1)y=−2z2.(2) y = z(2z + y) \Leftrightarrow y = 2z^2 + yz \Leftrightarrow (z-1)y = -2z^2. \quad (2)
For z=1z=1 equation (2) becomes: 0⋅y=−20 \cdot y = -2 (impossible). For z≠1z \neq 1 we have
y=−2z2z−1=−2(z2−1)+2z−1=−2(z+1)−2z−1.(3) y = -\frac{2z^2}{z-1} = -\frac{2(z^2-1)+2}{z-1} = -2(z+1) - \frac{2}{z-1}. \quad (3)
In order y∈Zy \in \mathbb{Z}, z−1z-1 must be a divisor of 22, i.e.
z−1∈{−1,1,−2,2}⇔z∈{0,2,−1,3}. z-1 \in \{-1, 1, -2, 2\} \Leftrightarrow z \in \{0, 2, -1, 3\}.
For z=0z=0, we find (x,y)=(0,0)(x,y)=(0,0), for z=2z=2, we find (x,y)=(10,−8)(x,y)=(10,-8), for z=−1z=-1, we find (x,y)=(−2,1)(x,y)=(-2,1) and for z=3z=3, we find (x,y)=(12,−9)(x,y)=(12,-9).

Solution 2

The equation can be written as
y=2x2+2xy+3xy+3y2⇔(x+y−1)(2x+3y+2)=−2(4) y = 2x^2 + 2xy + 3xy + 3y^2 \Leftrightarrow (x+y-1)(2x+3y+2) = -2 \quad (4)
Hence we have the cases:
∙{x+y−1=−12x+3y+2=2⇔{x+y=02x+3y=0⇔(x,y)=(0,0) \bullet \quad \begin{cases} x+y-1=-1 \\ 2x+3y+2=2 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow \begin{cases} x+y=0 \\ 2x+3y=0 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow (x,y)=(0,0)
∙{x+y−1=12x+3y+2=−2⇔{x+y=22x+3y=−4⇔(x,y)=(10,−8) \bullet \quad \begin{cases} x+y-1=1 \\ 2x+3y+2=-2 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow \begin{cases} x+y=2 \\ 2x+3y=-4 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow (x,y)=(10,-8)
∙{x+y−1=22x+3y+2=−1⇔{x+y=32x+3y=−3⇔(x,y)=(12,−9) \bullet \quad \begin{cases} x+y-1=2 \\ 2x+3y+2=-1 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow \begin{cases} x+y=3 \\ 2x+3y=-3 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow (x,y)=(12,-9)
∙{x+y−1=−22x+3y+2=1⇔{x+y=−12x+3y=−1⇔(x,y)=(−2,1) \bullet \quad \begin{cases} x+y-1=-2 \\ 2x+3y+2=1 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow \begin{cases} x+y=-1 \\ 2x+3y=-1 \end{cases} \Leftrightarrow (x,y)=(-2,1)

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.