Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all positive integers nn for which the equation
x3+y3=n!+4 x^{3}+y^{3}=n!+4
has solutions in integers.

Solution

For any integer aa we have a30,1,8(mod9)a^{3} \equiv 0,1,8 \pmod{9}, hence for any integers xx and yy, we have
x3+y30,1,2,7,8(mod9). x^{3}+y^{3} \equiv 0,1,2,7,8 \quad (\bmod 9).
For n6n \geq 6, we have n!+44(mod9)n!+4 \equiv 4 \pmod{9}, that is there are no solutions in this case.

If n=1n=1, then the equation becomes x3+y3=5x^{3}+y^{3}=5, which has no solutions because of the possible residues above.

If n=2n=2, then we get the equation x3+y3=6x^{3}+y^{3}=6, which has no solutions because of the possible residues above.

If n=3n=3, then the equation becomes x3+y3=10x^{3}+y^{3}=10.
For any integer aa we have a30,±1(mod7)a^{3} \equiv 0, \pm 1 \pmod{7}, hence for any integers xx and yy, we have
x3+y30,±1,±2(mod7). x^{3}+y^{3} \equiv 0, \pm 1, \pm 2 \quad (\bmod 7).
The equation has no solutions because of the possible residues above.

If n=4n=4, then the equation becomes x3+y3=28x^{3}+y^{3}=28, with solution (x,y)=(3,1)(x, y)=(3,1).

If n=5n=5, then we get the equation x3+y3=124x^{3}+y^{3}=124, with solution (x,y)=(5,1)(x, y)=(5,-1).

The equation has solutions in integers if and only if n=4n=4 and n=5n=5.

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