Problem:
Determine all pairs of non-negative integers satisfying the equation
Solution
Solution:
The pairs and are solutions. Let be a solution with . The solution consists of three steps:
1. We have .
2. We have .
3. The conditions from 1 and 2 yield a contradiction modulo 43.
Step 1: We have , and , and from then on the residues are periodic with period 3. From the original equation it follows that , hence .
Step 2: First show analogously to Step 1. By the Euler-Fermat theorem , so the period is at most 42. Using one obtains:
| 2 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 26 | 32 | 38 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 44 | 30 | 16 | 2 | 37 | 23 |
Thus holds exactly when .
Step 3: Write and . Considering the original equation modulo 43, one obtains, using Fermat's little theorem and ,
Hence there are no further solutions.
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.