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Algebra Difficulty 6.7 National Olympiad Prove it India

Consider a non-constant arithmetic progression a1,a2,,an,a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n, \dots. Suppose there exist relatively prime positive integers p>1p > 1 and q>1q > 1 such that a12,ap+12a_1^2, a_{p+1}^2 and aq+12a_{q+1}^2 are also the terms of the same arithmetic progression. Prove that the terms of the arithmetic progression are all integers.

Solution

Let us take a1=aa_1 = a. We have
a2=a+kd,(a+pd)2=a+ld,(a+qd)2=a+md. a^2 = a + kd, \quad (a + pd)^2 = a + ld, \quad (a + qd)^2 = a + md.
Thus we have
a+ld=(a+pd)2=a2+2pad+p2d2=a+kd+2pad+p2d2. a + ld = (a + pd)^2 = a^2 + 2pad + p^2d^2 = a + kd + 2pad + p^2d^2.
Since we have non-constant AP, we see that d0d \neq 0. Hence we obtain 2pa+p2d=lk2pa + p^2d = l - k. Similarly, we get 2qa+q2d=mk2qa + q^2d = m - k. Observe that p2qpq20p^2q - pq^2 \neq 0. Otherwise p=qp = q and gcd(p,q)=p>1\text{gcd}(p, q) = p > 1 which is a contradiction to the given hypothesis that gcd(p,q)=1\text{gcd}(p, q) = 1. Hence we can solve the two equations for a,da, d:
a=p2(mk)q2(lk)2(p2qpq2),d=q(lk)p(mk)p2qpq2. a = \frac{p^2(m-k) - q^2(l-k)}{2(p^2q - pq^2)}, \quad d = \frac{q(l-k) - p(m-k)}{p^2q - pq^2}.
It follows that a,da, d are rational numbers. We also have
p2a2=p2a+kp2d. p^2a^2 = p^2a + kp^2d.
But p2d=lk2pap^2d = l - k - 2pa. Thus we get
p2a2=p2a+k(lk2pa)=(p2k)pa+k(lk). p^2a^2 = p^2a + k(l - k - 2pa) = (p - 2k)pa + k(l - k).
This shows that papa satisfies the equation
x2(p2k)xk(lk)=0. x^2 - (p - 2k)x - k(l - k) = 0.
Since aa is rational, we see that papa is rational. Write pa=w/zpa = w/z, where ww is an integer and zz is a natural number such that gcd(w,z)=1\text{gcd}(w, z) = 1. Substituting in the equation, we obtain
w2(p2k)wzk(lk)z2=0. w^2 - (p - 2k)wz - k(l - k)z^2 = 0.
This shows zz divides ww. Since gcd(w,z)=1\text{gcd}(w, z) = 1, it follows that z=1z = 1 and pa=wpa = w an integer. (In fact any rational solution of a monic polynomial with integer coefficients is necessarily an integer.) Similarly, we can prove that qaqa is an integer. Since gcd(p,q)=1\text{gcd}(p, q) = 1, there are integers uu and vv such that pu+qv=1pu + qv = 1. Therefore a=(pa)u+(qa)va = (pa)u + (qa)v. It follows that aa is an integer. But p2d=lk2pap^2d = l - k - 2pa. Hence p2dp^2d is an integer. Similarly, q2dq^2d is also an integer. Since gcd(p2,q2)=1\text{gcd}(p^2, q^2) = 1, it follows that dd is an integer. Combining these two, we see that all the terms of the AP are integers.

Alternatively, we can prove that aa and dd are integers in another way. We have seen that aa and dd are rationals; and we have three relations:
a2=a+kd,p2d+2pa=n1,q2d+2qa=n2, a^2 = a + kd, \quad p^2d + 2pa = n_1, \quad q^2d + 2qa = n_2,
where n1=lkn_1 = l - k and n2=mkn_2 = m - k. Let a=u/va = u/v and d=x/yd = x/y where u,xu, x are integers and v,yv, y are natural numbers, and gcd(u,v)=1\text{gcd}(u, v) = 1, gcd(x,y)=1\text{gcd}(x, y) = 1. Putting this in these relations, we obtain
u2y=uvy+kxv2,(1) u^2 y = uvy + kxv^2, \qquad (1)
2puy+p2vx=vyn1,(2) 2puy + p^2vx = vyn_1, \qquad (2)
2quy+q2vx=vyn2.(3) 2quy + q^2vx = vyn_2. \qquad (3)
Now (1) shows that vu2yv|u^2y. Since gcd(u,v)=1\text{gcd}(u, v) = 1, it follows that vyv|y. Similarly (2) shows that yp2vxy|p^2vx. Using gcd(y,x)=1\text{gcd}(y, x) = 1, we get that yp2vy|p^2v. Similarly, (3) shows that yq2vy|q^2v. Therefore yy divides gcd(p2v,q2v)=v\text{gcd}(p^2v, q^2v) = v. The two results vyv|y and yvy|v imply v=yv = y, since both v,yv, y are positive. Substitute this in (1) to get
u2=uv+kxv. u^2 = uv + kxv.
This shows that vu2v|u^2. Since gcd(u,v)=1\text{gcd}(u, v) = 1, it follows that v=1v = 1. This gives v=y=1v = y = 1. Finally a=ua = u and d=xd = x which are integers.

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