Number theoryDifficulty 4.7AIMEProve itSouth Africa
Let a and b be two integers with a>b. If ab−1 and a+b are relatively prime, and ab+1 and a−b are relatively prime, prove that (ab+1)2+(a−b)2 is not a perfect square.
Solution
We know that (a−b)2+(ab+1)2=a2b2+a2+b2+1=(a2+1)(b2+1), so it will be enough to show that a2+1 and b2+1 are relatively prime. Suppose that there is a prime number p that divides both a2+1 and b2+1. Then p divides a2−b2, and hence p divides one of a+b or a−b. If p divides a−b, then p divides ab−b2, and since p divides b2+1, it divides ab−b2+b2+1=ab+1, which is impossible, since it is assumed that a−b and ab+1 are relatively prime. If p divides a+b, a similar contradiction is derived.
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