Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2012

Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Find all pairs (n;m)(n; m) of positive integers nn and mm satisfying the equality n2+n+1=(m2+m3)(m2m+5)n^2 + n + 1 = (m^2 + m - 3)(m^2 - m + 5).

Solution

Answer: (n;m)=(4;2)(n; m) = (4; 2).
By condition,
n2+n+1=(m2+n3)(m2n+5)=m4+m2+8m15. n^2 + n + 1 = (m^2 + n - 3)(m^2 - n + 5) = m^4 + m^2 + 8m - 15.
Consider the obtained equation
n2+n(m4+m2+8m16)=0(1) n^2 + n - (m^4 + m^2 + 8m - 16) = 0 \quad (1)
as a quadratic equation with respect to nn. It has positive integer roots only if the determinant D=4m4+4m2+32m63D = 4m^4+4m^2+32m-63 of this equation is a perfect square of some integer number. But
D=4m4+4m2+32m63=(2m2+2)24(m4)23<(2m2+2)2 D = 4m^4 + 4m^2 + 32m - 63 = (2m^2 + 2)^2 - 4(m - 4)^2 - 3 < (2m^2 + 2)^2
for any natural number mm, and
D=4m4+4m2+32m63=(2m2+1)2+32(m2)>(2m2+1)2 D = 4m^4 + 4m^2 + 32m - 63 = (2m^2 + 1)^2 + 32(m - 2) > (2m^2 + 1)^2
for any natural number m>2m > 2. Therefore, (1) has the natural roots only if m=1m = 1 or m=2m = 2.
If m=1m = 1, then n2+n+6=0n^2 + n + 6 = 0, so either n=2n = -2 or nZn \in \mathbb{Z}.
If m=2m = 2, then n2+n20=0n^2 + n - 20 = 0, so either n=5n = -5 or n=4n = 4.
Thus, (4; 2) is a unique pair of positive integers satisfying the problem condition.

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