Determine all triples of integers such that
Solution
We will show that there is no solution other than the trivial . For any other triple, we can write , , , where and is a positive integer. After dividing out , we obtain the same equation but for , , and . We will demonstrate that each of , , and must be divisible by , which leads to a contradiction.
Assume first that none of , , or is divisible by . Then , which implies that
meaning , a contradiction. Thus, we may assume that, for example, is divisible by . Then also divides . Note that we always have , thus we get . Now, if does not divide , then it would not divide , which is a contradiction since . Therefore, , and consequently also , as required.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.