Number theoryDifficulty 5.4AIME, harderProve itSaudi Arabia
Find all pairs (m,n) of integers, m,n≥2 such that mn−1 divides n3−1.
Solution
The solutions are (k,k2) and (k2,k), with k≥2. We have mn−1∣(n3−1)m−n2(mn−1)=n2−m, hence mn−1∣m(n2−m)−(mn−1)n=n−m2 If n>m2, then mn−1≤n−m2≤n−1, so mn≤n, not possible. If n=m2, then obviously m3−1∣m6−1, so all pairs (m,m2), m≥2 are solutions. If n<m2, from mn−1≤n3−1 we obtain that n<m≤n2. Then mn−1≤m2−n<m2−1, hence n<m. If n2−m>0, we get mn−1≤n2−m<n2−1, so m<n, a contradiction. It follows n=m2, satisfying the condition in the problem since m3−1∣m3−1, so all pairs (n2,n),n≥2, are also solutions.
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Source: MathNet,
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