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Number theory Difficulty 7.8 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it IMO

Let nn be a positive integer and let pp be a prime number. Prove that if a,b,ca, b, c are integers (not necessarily positive) satisfying the equations
an+pb=bn+pc=cn+pa, a^{n}+p b=b^{n}+p c=c^{n}+p a,
then a=b=ca=b=c.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

If two of a,b,ca, b, c are equal, it is immediate that all the three are equal. So we may assume that abcaa \neq b \neq c \neq a. Subtracting the equations we get anbn=p(bc)a^{n}-b^{n}=-p(b-c) and two cyclic copies of this equation, which upon multiplication yield
anbnabbncnbccnanca=p3. \frac{a^{n}-b^{n}}{a-b} \cdot \frac{b^{n}-c^{n}}{b-c} \cdot \frac{c^{n}-a^{n}}{c-a}=-p^{3} .
If nn is odd then the differences anbna^{n}-b^{n} and aba-b have the same sign and the product on the left is positive, while p3-p^{3} is negative. So nn must be even.
Let dd be the greatest common divisor of the three differences ab,bc,caa-b, b-c, c-a, so that ab=du,bc=dv,ca=dw;gcd(u,v,w)=1,u+v+w=0a-b=d u, b-c=d v, c-a=d w ; \operatorname{gcd}(u, v, w)=1, u+v+w=0.
From anbn=p(bc)a^{n}-b^{n}=-p(b-c) we see that (ab)p(bc)(a-b) \mid p(b-c), i.e., upvu \mid p v; and cyclically vpw,wpuv|p w, w| p u. As gcd(u,v,w)=1\operatorname{gcd}(u, v, w)=1 and u+v+w=0u+v+w=0, at most one of u,v,wu, v, w can be divisible by pp. Supposing that the prime pp does not divide any one of them, we get uv,vw,wuu|v, v| w, w \mid u, whence u=v=w=1|u|=|v|=|w|=1; but this quarrels with u+v+w=0u+v+w=0.
Thus pp must divide exactly one of these numbers. Let e.g. pup \mid u and write u=pu1u=p u_{1}. Now we obtain, similarly as before, u1v,vw,wu1u_{1}|v, v| w, w \mid u_{1} so that u1=v=w=1\left|u_{1}\right|=|v|=|w|=1. The equation pu1+v+w=0p u_{1}+v+w=0 forces that the prime pp must be even; i.e. p=2p=2. Hence v+w=2u1=±2v+w=-2 u_{1}= \pm 2, implying v=w(=±1)v=w(= \pm 1) and u=2vu=-2 v. Consequently ab=2(bc)a-b=-2(b-c).
Knowing that nn is even, say n=2kn=2 k, we rewrite the equation anbn=p(bc)a^{n}-b^{n}=-p(b-c) with p=2p=2 in the form
(ak+bk)(akbk)=2(bc)=ab. \left(a^{k}+b^{k}\right)\left(a^{k}-b^{k}\right)=-2(b-c)=a-b .
The second factor on the left is divisible by aba-b, so the first factor ( ak+bka^{k}+b^{k} ) must be ±1\pm 1. Then exactly one of aa and bb must be odd; yet ab=2(bc)a-b=-2(b-c) is even. Contradiction ends the proof.

Solution 2

The beginning is as in the first solution. Assuming that a,b,ca, b, c are not all equal, hence are all distinct, we derive equation (1) with the conclusion that nn is even. Write n=2kn=2 k.
Suppose that pp is odd. Then the integer
anbnab=an1+an2b++bn1, \frac{a^{n}-b^{n}}{a-b}=a^{n-1}+a^{n-2} b+\cdots+b^{n-1},
which is a factor in (1), must be odd as well. This sum of n=2kn=2 k summands is odd only if aa and bb have different parities. The same conclusion holding for b,cb, c and for c,ac, a, we get that a,b,c,aa, b, c, a alternate in their parities, which is clearly impossible.
Thus p=2p=2. The original system shows that a,b,ca, b, c must be of the same parity. So we may divide (1) by p3p^{3}, i.e. 232^{3}, to obtain the following product of six integer factors:
ak+bk2akbkabbk+ck2bkckbcck+ak2ckakca=1. \frac{a^{k}+b^{k}}{2} \cdot \frac{a^{k}-b^{k}}{a-b} \cdot \frac{b^{k}+c^{k}}{2} \cdot \frac{b^{k}-c^{k}}{b-c} \cdot \frac{c^{k}+a^{k}}{2} \cdot \frac{c^{k}-a^{k}}{c-a}=-1 .
Each one of the factors must be equal to ±1\pm 1. In particular, ak+bk=±2a^{k}+b^{k}= \pm 2. If kk is even, this becomes ak+bk=2a^{k}+b^{k}=2 and yields a=b=1|a|=|b|=1, whence akbk=0a^{k}-b^{k}=0, contradicting (2).
Let now kk be odd. Then the sum ak+bka^{k}+b^{k}, with value ±2\pm 2, has a+ba+b as a factor. Since aa and bb are of the same parity, this means that a+b=±2a+b= \pm 2; and cyclically, b+c=±2,c+a=±2b+c= \pm 2, c+a= \pm 2. In some two of these equations the signs must coincide, hence some two of a,b,ca, b, c are equal. This is the desired contradiction.

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