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Number theory Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it Ukraine

For six integers a,b,ca, b, c and A,B,CA, B, C the following correlations are true:
b+c=A2,c+a=B2,a+b=C2,C>B>A0. b + c = A^2, \quad c + a = B^2, \quad a + b = C^2, \quad C > B > A \geq 0.
Find numbers a,b,ca, b, c, for which the sum A2+B2+C2A^2 + B^2 + C^2 takes the smallest possible value.

Solution

Let us solve the given system of equations for numbers a,b,ca, b, c. From the first two equations we obtain: ab=B2A2a - b = B^2 - A^2. Let us add this to the third equation and find out, that
a=12(B2+C2A2). a = \frac{1}{2}(B^2 + C^2 - A^2).
Similarly, or thinking symmetrically, we can find out that
b=12(C2+A2B2) and c=12(A2+B2C2). b = \frac{1}{2}(C^2 + A^2 - B^2) \text{ and } c = \frac{1}{2}(A^2 + B^2 - C^2).
The smallest possible sum A2+B2+C2A^2 + B^2 + C^2 can be received for three smallest various squares of integers:
A2=0,B2=1,C2=4A^2 = 0, B^2 = 1, C^2 = 4. But for these three squares, numbers a,b,ca, b, c will not be integers, for example:
a=12(1+40)=52a = \frac{1}{2}(1 + 4 - 0) = \frac{5}{2}. The following three squares with the next bigger sum are the numbers:
A2=0,B2=1,C2=9A^2 = 0, B^2 = 1, C^2 = 9. For this triple, the values of a,b,ca, b, c are integers, hence desired:
a=12(1+90)=5,b=12(9+01)=4,c=12(0+19)=4. a = \frac{1}{2}(1 + 9 - 0) = 5, \quad b = \frac{1}{2}(9 + 0 - 1) = 4, \quad c = \frac{1}{2}(0 + 1 - 9) = -4.
Answer: a=5, b=4, c=4a = 5,\ b = 4,\ c = -4.

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