Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2016

Number theory Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Slovenia

Find all integers aa, bb, cc, and dd that solve the system of equations
a2+b2+c2=d+13, a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = d + 13,
a+2b+3c=d2+13. a + 2b + 3c = \frac{d}{2} + 13.

Solution

From the second equation we express d=2a+4b+6c26d = 2a + 4b + 6c - 26 and insert it into the first equation to get
a2+b2+c2=2a+4b+6c13. a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = 2a + 4b + 6c - 13.
Moving all the terms to the left we have a2+b2+c22a4b6c+13=0a^2 + b^2 + c^2 - 2a - 4b - 6c + 13 = 0, which we now rewrite as the sum of perfect squares
(a1)2+(b2)2+(c3)2=1. (a - 1)^2 + (b - 2)^2 + (c - 3)^2 = 1.
All three perfect squares on the left are non-negative integers, so one of them is equal to 1 and the other two are 0. If (a1)2=1(a - 1)^2 = 1, we have a=0a = 0 or a=2a = 2 as well as b=2b = 2 and c=3c = 3. If (b2)2=1(b - 2)^2 = 1, we have b=1b = 1 or b=3b = 3 as well as a=1a = 1 and c=3c = 3. If (c3)2=1(c - 3)^2 = 1, we have c=2c = 2 or c=4c = 4 as well as a=1a = 1 and b=2b = 2. In each case we can determine dd from the equation given above. The integer solutions (a,b,c,d)(a, b, c, d) of the given system of equations are therefore (0,2,3,0)(0, 2, 3, 0), (2,2,3,4)(2, 2, 3, 4), (1,1,3,2)(1, 1, 3, -2), (1,3,3,6)(1, 3, 3, 6), (1,2,2,4)(1, 2, 2, -4) and (1,2,4,8)(1, 2, 4, 8).

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