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Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Croatia

Prove that the equation
3x4+2013=25y224x2 3x^4 + 2013 = 25y^2 - 24x^2
has no integer solutions.

Solution

Rewrite the equation as:
3x4+2013+24x2=25y2 3x^4 + 2013 + 24x^2 = 25y^2
which gives
25y2=3x4+24x2+2013 25y^2 = 3x^4 + 24x^2 + 2013
So 25y225y^2 is congruent to 3x4+24x2+20133x^4 + 24x^2 + 2013.

Let us consider the equation modulo 2525:
3x4+24x2+20130(mod25) 3x^4 + 24x^2 + 2013 \equiv 0 \pmod{25}
Note that 201313(mod25)2013 \equiv 13 \pmod{25}, so:
3x4+24x2+130(mod25) 3x^4 + 24x^2 + 13 \equiv 0 \pmod{25}
Let x2=tx^2 = t, then x4=t2x^4 = t^2:
3t2+24t+130(mod25) 3t^2 + 24t + 13 \equiv 0 \pmod{25}
We can check all possible values of tt modulo 2525 (since xx is integer, tt is a quadratic residue modulo 2525).

The quadratic residues modulo 2525 are 0,1,4,9,16,24,6,19,11,24,6,19,11,24,6,19,11,24,6,19,11,24,6,19,110, 1, 4, 9, 16, 24, 6, 19, 11, 24, 6, 19, 11, 24, 6, 19, 11, 24, 6, 19, 11, 24, 6, 19, 11 (but let's just check t=0t = 0 to 2424).

For t=0t = 0:
302+240+13=13≢0(mod25) 3 \cdot 0^2 + 24 \cdot 0 + 13 = 13 \not\equiv 0 \pmod{25}
For t=1t = 1:
31+241+13=3+24+13=4015(mod25) 3 \cdot 1 + 24 \cdot 1 + 13 = 3 + 24 + 13 = 40 \equiv 15 \pmod{25}
For t=4t = 4:
316+244+13=48+96+13=1577(mod25) 3 \cdot 16 + 24 \cdot 4 + 13 = 48 + 96 + 13 = 157 \equiv 7 \pmod{25}
For t=9t = 9:
381+249+13=243+216+13=47222(mod25) 3 \cdot 81 + 24 \cdot 9 + 13 = 243 + 216 + 13 = 472 \equiv 22 \pmod{25}
For t=16t = 16:
3256+2416+13=768+384+13=116515(mod25) 3 \cdot 256 + 24 \cdot 16 + 13 = 768 + 384 + 13 = 1165 \equiv 15 \pmod{25}
For t=24t = 24:
3576+2424+13=1728+576+13=231717(mod25) 3 \cdot 576 + 24 \cdot 24 + 13 = 1728 + 576 + 13 = 2317 \equiv 17 \pmod{25}
None of these are congruent to 00 modulo 2525.

Therefore, there is no integer xx such that 3x4+24x2+20133x^4 + 24x^2 + 2013 is divisible by 2525, so there are no integer solutions to the equation.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.