Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it North Macedonia

Solve the equation p2q+q2p=rp^{2q} + q^{2p} = r in the set of prime numbers.

Solution

It is clear that r>2r > 2, from where rr must be an odd prime number. One of the numbers pp or qq must be 22, and the other must be an odd prime number. Without loss of generality, let q=2q = 2 and pp be odd. But then the equation is of the form p4+22p=rp^4 + 2^{2p} = r, i.e. p4+424k=rp^4 + 4 \cdot 2^{4k} = r where p=2k+1p = 2k + 1, kNk \in \mathbb{N}. But then
p4+424k=p4+424k+422kp2422kp2=(p2+222k)2422kp2==(p2+222k+22kp)(p2+222k22kp)==(p2+222k+22kp)((p2k)2+22k) \begin{aligned} p^4 + 4 \cdot 2^{4k} &= p^4 + 4 \cdot 2^{4k} + 4 \cdot 2^{2k} p^2 - 4 \cdot 2^{2k} p^2 = (p^2 + 2 \cdot 2^{2k})^2 - 4 \cdot 2^{2k} p^2 = \\ &= (p^2 + 2 \cdot 2^{2k} + 2 \cdot 2^k p)(p^2 + 2 \cdot 2^{2k} - 2 \cdot 2^k p) = \\ &= (p^2 + 2 \cdot 2^{2k} + 2 \cdot 2^k p)((p - 2^k)^2 + 2^{2k}) \end{aligned}
That means that the number p4+22pp^4 + 2^{2p} is never prime, which means that the equation has no solution in the set of prime numbers.

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