Find all integers , , , and that solve the system of equations
, 2016
Solution
From the second equation we express and insert it into the first equation to get
Moving all the terms to the left we have , which we now rewrite as the sum of perfect squares
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 , we have or as well as and . If , we have or as well as and . If , we have or as well as and . In each case we can determine from the equation given above. The integer solutions of the given system of equations are therefore , , , , and .
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.