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Slovenia — National Math Olympiad

Number theory Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Slovenia

Let a,b,ca, b, c and dd be positive integers such that a>b>c>da > b > c > d and
(1−a)(1−b)(1−c)(1−d)=10. (1-a)(1-b)(1-c)(1-d) = 10.
Find all possible values of a+b−c−da+b-c-d.

Solution

The numbers a,b,ca, b, c and dd are pairwise different, so 1−a,1−b,1−c1-a, 1-b, 1-c and 1−d1-d are all different as well. Since 1010 is the product of two primes, it can only be written as the product of four integers if two of these integers are 11 and −1-1. The remaining two factors are either −2-2 and 55 or 22 and −5-5.

Since a>b>c>da > b > c > d we have 1−a<1−b<1−c<1−d1-a < 1-b < 1-c < 1-d. So, 1−b=−11-b = -1 and 1−c=11-c = 1, which implies b=2b=2 and c=0c=0. If 1−a=−21-a = -2 and 1−d=51-d = 5, we get a=3a=3 and d=−4d=-4. In the case where 1−a=−51-a = -5 and 1−d=21-d = 2, we have a=6a=6 and d=−1d=-1.

The value of a+b−c−da+b-c-d is equal to 3+2−0−(−4)=93+2-0-(-4) = 9 in the first case, and to 6+2−0−(−1)=96+2-0-(-1) = 9 in the second case, so there is really only one possibility, a+b−c−d=9a+b-c-d=9.

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