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Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Prove that number m4+1m^4 + 1 has no divisors in interval [m22m,m2+2m][m^2 - 2m, m^2 + 2m] for every natural m>2m > 2.

Solution

Suppose the opposite. Let
m2+a[m22m,m2+2m] i m4+1m2+a. m^2 + a \in [m^2 - 2m, m^2 + 2m] \text{ i } m^4 + 1 \equiv m^2 + a.
Since
(m4+1,m2+a)=(am2+1,m2+a)=(a2+1,m2+a), then a2+1m2+a,a2+1=(m2+a)r. (m^4 + 1, m^2 + a) = (-a m^2 + 1, m^2 + a) = (a^2 + 1, m^2 + a), \text{ then } a^2 + 1 \equiv m^2 + a, \\ a^2 + 1 = (m^2 + a) r.
Let a[2m+3,0]a \in [-2m+3, 0], then m4+1m2+am4+1m22m+3<m2+2m+1\frac{m^4+1}{m^2+a} \le \frac{m^4+1}{m^2-2m+3} < m^2+2m+1, so m4+1m^4+1 has a divisor that is no less than m2m^2 and fulfills the assumption, therefore instead of m2+am^2+a we can examine a divisor m2+bm^2+b, where b0b \ge 0.
If a=2m+2a = -2m + 2, then 4m28m+5m22m+24m^2 - 8m + 5 \equiv m^2 - 2m + 2, so 3m22m+23 \equiv m^2 - 2m + 2, which is impossible in case of m>1m > 1.
If a=2m+1a = -2m + 1, then 4m24m+2(m1)2m14m^2 - 4m + 2 \equiv (m-1)^2 - m - 1, thus 2m12 \equiv m - 1, m{2,3}m \in \{2,3\}. In case of m=2m = 2 and m=3m = 3: m4+1=17m^4 + 1 = 17 and m4+1=241m^4 + 1 = 2 \cdot 41 - none of these numbers fulfills the condition.
If a=2ma = -2m, then 1m1 \equiv m is a contradiction.
Thus, if number m4+1m^4 + 1 has a divisor m2+am^2 + a, where a[2m,2m]a \in [-2m, 2m], then the number m4+1m^4 + 1 has a divisor m2+bm^2 + b, where b[0,2m]b \in [0, 2m]. It is also clear that b0b \ne 0. In such case, 4m2+1b2+1=(m2+b)rm2r4m^2 + 1 \ge b^2 + 1 = (m^2 + b) r \ge m^2 r, so r3r \le 3.
Case r=3r = 3: b2+1=3(m2+b)b^2 + 1 = 3(m^2 + b) - it is impossible, because b2+1b^2 + 1 is not divisible by 3.
Case r=2r = 2: b2+1=2(m2+b)b^2 + 1 = 2(m^2 + b), (b1)2=2m2(b-1)^2 = 2m^2 - impossible.
Case r=1r=1: b2b+1=m2b^2 - b + 1 = m^2, but b2>b2b+1=m2>(b1)2b^2 > b^2 - b + 1 = m^2 > (b-1)^2, so this case is also impossible. Thus, we have the contradiction with the supposition, so the statement is proved.

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