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Number theory Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Taiwan

Prove that for all primes p>100p > 100 and every integer rr, there exist two integers aa and bb such that pp divides a2+b5ra^2 + b^5 - r.

Solution

Throughout this entire solution, all congruence relations are modulo pp.

Fix pp, let P={0,1,,p1}\mathcal{P} = \{0, 1, \dots, p-1\} be the complete residue system modulo pp. For all rPr \in \mathcal{P}, let Sr={(a,b)P×P:a2+b5r}S_r = \{(a, b) \in \mathcal{P} \times \mathcal{P} : a^2 + b^5 \equiv r\}, and let sr=Srs_r = |S_r|. Our goal is to prove that for all rPr \in \mathcal{P}, sr>0s_r > 0.

We will use the known fact that for all congruence classes rPr \in \mathcal{P} and all positive integers kk, there exist at most kk values xPx \in \mathcal{P} such that xkrx^k \equiv r.

Lemma. Let NN be the number of quadruples (a,b,c,d)P4(a, b, c, d) \in \mathcal{P}^4 satisfying a2+b5c2+d5a^2 + b^5 \equiv c^2 + d^5. Then
N=rPsr2(1) N = \sum_{r \in \mathcal{P}} s_r^2 \quad (1)
and
Np(p2+4p4).(2) N \le p(p^2 + 4p - 4). \tag{2}

Proof.

a. For all congruence classes rr, there exist exactly srs_r pairs (a,b)(a, b) satisfying a2+b5ra^2 + b^5 \equiv r and srs_r pairs (c,d)(c, d) satisfying c2+d5rc^2 + d^5 \equiv r. So there exist sr2s_r^2 quadruples satisfying a2+b5c2+d5ra^2 + b^5 \equiv c^2 + d^5 \equiv r. Summing over all rPr \in \mathcal{P}, the result follows.

b. Choose an arbitrary pair (b,d)P(b, d) \in \mathcal{P} and look for possible values of a,ca, c.

1. Suppose b5d5b^5 \equiv d^5, and let kk be the number of pairs (b,d)(b, d). bb can be chosen in pp different ways. For b0b \equiv 0, dd can only be 00. For nonzero bb, dd has at most five possible values. So we have k1+5(p1)=5p4k \le 1 + 5(p-1) = 5p-4.
The values of aa and cc must satisfy a2c2a^2 \equiv c^2, so a±ca \equiv \pm c, and there exist exactly 2p12p-1 such pairs (a,c)(a, c).

2. Now suppose b5d5b^5 \neq d^5. In this case, aa and cc must be distinct. Using (ac)(a+c)=d5b5(a-c)(a+c) = d^5 - b^5, the value of aca-c uniquely determines the value of a+ca+c, and also determines the values of aa and cc. Therefore, there exist p1p-1 suitable pairs (a,c)(a, c).

Thus, for the kk pairs (b,d)(b, d) satisfying b5=d5b^5 = d^5, there exist 2p12p-1 pairs (a,c)(a, c), and for the other p2kp^2-k pairs (b,d)(b, d), there exist p1p-1 pairs (a,c)(a, c). Therefore,
N=k(2p1)+(p2k)(p1)=p2(p1)+kpp2(p1)+(5p4)p=p(p2+4p4). \begin{aligned} N &= k(2p-1) + (p^2-k)(p-1) = p^2(p-1) + kp \\ &\leq p^2(p-1) + (5p-4)p = p(p^2 + 4p - 4). \end{aligned}

Suppose that for some rPr \in \mathcal{P}, Sr=S_r = \emptyset. Clearly r0r \neq 0. Let T={x10:xP{0}}T = \{x^{10} : x \in \mathcal{P} \setminus \{0\}\}. Because every congruence class is the 10th power of at most 10 elements in the set P\mathcal{P}, from p>100p > 100 we obtain Tp1104|T| \geq \frac{p-1}{10} \geq 4.

For all tTt \in T, we have Str=S_{tr} = \emptyset. Indeed, if (x,y)Str(x, y) \in S_{tr} and tz10t \equiv z^{10}, then
(z5x)2+(z2y)5t1(x2+y5)r, (z^{-5}x)^2 + (z^{-2}y)^5 \equiv t^{-1}(x^2 + y^5) \equiv r,
so (z5x,z2y)Sr(z^{-5}x, z^{-2}y) \in S_r. Therefore, among S1,,Sp1S_1, \dots, S_{p-1} there exist at least p1104\frac{p-1}{10} \geq 4 empty sets and among s0,s1,s2,,sp1s_0, s_1, s_2, \dots, s_{p-1} there exist at most p4p-4 nonzero numbers. Then by the AMQMAM-QM inequality, we obtain
N=rPrTsr21p4(rPrTsr)2=P×P2p4=p4p4>p(p2+4p4), N = \sum_{r \in \mathcal{P} \setminus rT} s_r^2 \geq \frac{1}{p-4} \left( \sum_{r \in \mathcal{P} \setminus rT} s_r \right)^2 = \frac{|\mathcal{P} \times \mathcal{P}|^2}{p-4} = \frac{p^4}{p-4} > p(p^2+4p-4),
which, by the Lemma, cannot be true.

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