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Ukrainian National Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Ukraine

Out of three expressions xy\frac{x}{y}, x2+4y2+4\frac{x^2+4}{y^2+4} and x3+8y3+8\frac{x^3+8}{y^3+8}, for some integer x,yx, y, two take the same value, and the remaining one takes a different value. For which pairs of integers x,yx, y is this possible?
(Bogdan Rublyov)

Solution

Obviously, x≠yx \neq y, because otherwise, all three expressions would take the same value, which contradicts problem statement.
If the first two expressions are equal, then we have the equality:
xy=x2+4y2+4⇒xy2+4x=yx2+4y⇒xy(y−x)=4(y−x). \frac{x}{y} = \frac{x^2+4}{y^2+4} \Rightarrow xy^2 + 4x = yx^2 + 4y \Rightarrow xy(y-x) = 4(y-x).
Since x≠yx \neq y, we can divide by y−x⇒xy=4y-x \Rightarrow xy=4. There are two pairs of positive integer numbers that satisfy the last equality: (1, 4) and (4, 1). Substitute them into the third equality, and we get
x3+8y3+8=972=18≠xyand, analogously,x3+8y3+8=8≠xy,so these pairs of numbers satisfy the \frac{x^3+8}{y^3+8} = \frac{9}{72} = \frac{1}{8} \neq \frac{x}{y} \quad \text{and, analogously,} \quad \frac{x^3+8}{y^3+8} = 8 \neq \frac{x}{y}, \quad \text{so these pairs of numbers satisfy the}
condition.

If the first and third expressions are equal, then
xy=x3+8y3+8⇒xy3+8x=yx3+8y⇒xy(y−x)(y+x)=8(y−x)⇒xy(y+x)=8, \frac{x}{y} = \frac{x^3 + 8}{y^3 + 8} \Rightarrow xy^3 + 8x = yx^3 + 8y \Rightarrow xy(y-x)(y+x) = 8(y-x) \Rightarrow xy(y+x) = 8,
which has no solution, as one can confirm by a simple search.
If the second and third expressions are equal, then we have the equality:
x2+4y2+4=x3+8y3+8⇒x2y3+8x2+4y3=x3y2+8y2+4x3x2y2(y−x)+4(y−x)(y2+xy+x2)=8(y−x)(y+x)⇒x2y2+4(y2+xy+x2)=8(y+x)⇒4xy+x2y2=4(2y−y2)+4(2x−x2). \begin{aligned} \frac{x^2+4}{y^2+4} &= \frac{x^3+8}{y^3+8} \Rightarrow x^2y^3 + 8x^2 + 4y^3 = x^3y^2 + 8y^2 + 4x^3 \\ x^2y^2(y-x) + 4(y-x)(y^2 + xy + x^2) &= 8(y-x)(y+x) \Rightarrow x^2y^2 + 4(y^2 + xy + x^2) = 8(y+x) \Rightarrow 4xy + x^2y^2 = 4(2y-y^2) + 4(2x-x^2). \end{aligned}

So, x=1x=1 or y=1y=1. If x=1x=1, then 4y+y2=4(2y−y2)+44y+y^2 = 4(2y-y^2)+4 or 5y2−3y+4=05y^2-3y+4=0 -
equality is obviously not possible, because 5y2>3y5y^2 > 3y for positive integer yy. Analogously for y=1y=1.

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