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Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Determine all positive integers kk and nn for which 2k+10n2+n42^k + 10n^2 + n^4 is the square of an integer.

Solution

The required integers are k=3k = 3 and n=2n = 2. It is readily checked that these integers satisfy the condition in the statement.

To show that there are no other such, write 2k+10n2+n4=N22^k + 10n^2 + n^4 = N^2, where NN is a positive integer, so (Nn25)(N+n2+5)=2k25(N - n^2 - 5)(N + n^2 + 5) = 2^k - 25.

The latter shows that Nn2+6N \ge n^2 + 6 if k5k \ge 5, and of the first four positive integers, only k=3k = 3 yields a positive integer n=2n = 2, in which case N=8N = 8.

Henceforth, let k5k \ge 5, and notice that nn must be even, for otherwise N2=2k+10n2+n43(mod4)N^2 = 2^k + 10n^2 + n^4 \equiv 3 \pmod 4, which is impossible. Let 2m,m12^m, m \ge 1, be the highest power of 22 dividing nn.

If k>2m+1k > 2m+1, then 22m+12^{2m+1} is the highest power of 22 dividing 2k+10n2+n4=N22^k+10n^2+n^4 = N^2, which is again impossible.

Consequently, k2m+1k \le 2m+1, so 2k22m+12n22^k \le 2^{2m+1} \le 2n^2, and N2=2k+10n2+n412n2+n4<(n2+6)2N^2 = 2^k + 10n^2 + n^4 \le 12n^2 + n^4 < (n^2 + 6)^2; that is, N<n2+6N < n^2 + 6, in contradiction with Nn2+6N \ge n^2 + 6 established above. This ends the proof.

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