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Number theory Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Estonia

Find all remainders which one can get when dividing by 66 an integer nn which satisfies n3=m2+m+1n^3 = m^2 + m + 1 for some integer mm.

Solution

Numbers nn and n3n^3 give the same remainder when dividing by 66. Also, m2+m+1m^2 + m + 1 is odd and gives the remainder 00 or 11 when dividing by 33. The only possibility to get 00 as the remainder is when m=3k+1m = 3k+1, but then
n3=(9k2+6k+1)+(3k+1)+1=9k2+9k+3=3(3k2+3k+1) n^3 = (9k^2 + 6k + 1) + (3k + 1) + 1 = 9k^2 + 9k + 3 = 3(3k^2 + 3k + 1)
which leads to a contradiction, since if n3n^3 is divisible by 33, it is also divisible by 333^3, but 3k2+3k+13k^2 + 3k + 1 is not divisible by 33. Hence the remainder of n3n^3 is 11 both when dividing by 22 or 33, consequently its remainder when dividing by 66 is 11.

The remainder 11 is possible: take n=1n = 1 and m=0m = 0 (or n=7n = 7 and m=18m = 18).

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