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Number theory Difficulty 8.7 Shortlist Prove it Romania

a) There are infinitely many positive integer numbers nn such that there exists a square equal to the sum of the squares of nn consecutive positive integer numbers. (For instance, 22 and 1111 are such: 52=32+425^2 = 3^2 + 4^2 and 772=182+192++28277^2 = 18^2 + 19^2 + \dots + 28^2.)

b) If nn is a positive integer number which is not a perfect square and if x0x_0 is an integer number such that x02+(x0+1)2++(x0+n1)2x_0^2 + (x_0 + 1)^2 + \dots + (x_0 + n - 1)^2 is a perfect square, then there are infinitely many positive integer numbers xx such that x2+(x+1)2++(x+n1)2x^2 + (x + 1)^2 + \dots + (x + n - 1)^2 is a perfect square.

Solution

a.
We must show that there are infinitely many positive integer numbers nn such that the equation y2=x2+(x+1)2++(x+n1)2y^2 = x^2 + (x+1)^2 + \dots + (x+n-1)^2 has positive integral solutions. To this end, rewrite the equation in the form
y2=n((x+n12)2+(n21)12).(1) y^2 = n\left(\left(x + \frac{n-1}{2}\right)^2 + \frac{(n^2-1)}{12}\right). \qquad (1)
We show that if nn is a square greater than 2525 not divisible by 22 or 33, then (1) has a positive but finite number of solutions in positive integers xx and yy. Since nn is a perfect square, the expression in the outmost parentheses in (1) must be a perfect square z2z^2, i.e., there is a positive integer zz such that
z2(x+n12)2=(n21)12.(2) z^2 - \left(x + \frac{n-1}{2}\right)^2 = \frac{(n^2-1)}{12}. \qquad (2)
Thus, z±(x+(n1)/2)z \pm (x + (n-1)/2) must be complementary even divisors of (n21)/12(n^2 - 1)/12 differing by more than n1n-1; hence there are only finitely many solutions to (2) in positive integers. One such is obtained by taking
z(x+n12)=2andz+(x+n12)=n2124, z - \left(x + \frac{n-1}{2}\right) = 2 \quad \text{and} \quad z + \left(x + \frac{n-1}{2}\right) = \frac{n^2-1}{24},
i.e., by letting xx and zz have the positive integer values
x=(n25)(n+1)48andz=1+(n21)48. x = \frac{(n-25)(n+1)}{48} \quad \text{and} \quad z = 1 + \frac{(n^2-1)}{48}.

b.
Rewrite the equation y2=x2+(x+1)2++(x+n1)2y^2 = x^2 + (x+1)^2 + \dots + (x+n-1)^2 in the form
(2y)2n(2x+n1)2=(n1)n(n+1)3(3) (2y)^2 - n(2x + n - 1)^2 = \frac{(n-1)n(n+1)}{3} \quad (3)
and let Tn(x)=x2+(x+1)2++(x+n1)2T_n(x) = x^2 + (x+1)^2 + \dots + (x+n-1)^2. We may assume n>1n > 1. Since Tn(x)=Tn(xn+1)T_n(x) = T_n(-x-n+1), we may further assume that x0(n1)/2x_0 \ge -(n-1)/2. Suppose Tn(x0)=y02T_n(x_0) = y_0^2, i.e., (2y0)2n(2x0+n1)2=(n1)n(n+1)/3(2y_0)^2 - n(2x_0 + n-1)^2 = (n-1)n(n+1)/3, where we may assume y0>0y_0 > 0 (and hence y0>(n1)/2y_0 > (n-1)/2). By the theory of the Pell equation, there are infinitely many pairs of positive integers u,vu, v such that
u2nv2=1.(4) u^2 - nv^2 = 1. \quad (4)
Clearly, uu is odd if nn is even, so that (n1)(u1)(n-1)(u-1) is even. We now use the identity
(2y0+(2x0+n1)n)(u+vn)=2y+(2x+n1)n,(5) (2y_0 + (2x_0 + n - 1)\sqrt{n})(u + v\sqrt{n}) = 2y + (2x + n - 1)\sqrt{n}, \quad (5)
where
x=x0u+y0v+(n1)(u1)2andy=y0u+x0nv+(n1)nv2.(6) x = x_0u + y_0v + \frac{(n-1)(u-1)}{2} \quad \text{and} \quad y = y_0u + x_0nv + \frac{(n-1)nv}{2}. \quad (6)
Multiplying (5) by the identity obtained from (5) by replacing n\sqrt{n} by n-\sqrt{n}, we find that if xx and yy are given by (6) and uu and vv satisfy (4), then
(2y)2n(2x+n1)2=((2y0)2n(2x0+n1)2)(u2nv2)=(2y0)2n(2x0+n1)2=(n1)n(n+1)3. \begin{aligned} (2y)^2 - n(2x + n - 1)^2 &= ((2y_0)^2 - n(2x_0 + n - 1)^2)(u^2 - nv^2) \\ &= (2y_0)^2 - n(2x_0 + n - 1)^2 = \frac{(n - 1)n(n + 1)}{3}. \end{aligned}
Thus, if x,yx, y are given by (6), they satisfy (3), so that Tn(x)T_n(x) is a perfect square. Further, since x0(n1)/2x_0 \ge -(n-1)/2 and y0>(n1)/2y_0 > (n-1)/2, it follows that yy0u>0y \ge y_0u > 0 and xy0vu(n1)/2+(n1)(u1)/2=y0v(n1)/2y0(n1)/2>0x \ge y_0v - u(n-1)/2 + (n-1)(u-1)/2 = y_0v - (n-1)/2 \ge y_0 - (n-1)/2 > 0. This ends the proof.

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