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Belarusian Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Find all xx satisfying the equality
[x2]−[−x2]−8[x]+2=0. [x^2] - [-x^2] - 8[x] + 2 = 0.
(Here [x][x] stands for the greatest integer not exceeding xx.)

Solution

Answer: 3\sqrt{3}, 7\sqrt{7}, 11\sqrt{11}.
Since 8[x]8[x] is an integer number, we can rewrite the initial equation as
[x2−4[x]+1]−[−x2−4[x]+1]=0[x^2 - 4[x] + 1] - [-x^2 - 4[x] + 1] = 0.
Set y=x2−4[x]+1y = x^2 - 4[x] + 1, then [y]=[−y][y] = [-y].
It is easy to see that for y>0y > 0 we have 0≤[y]=[−y]≤−10 \le [y] = [-y] \le -1, which is impossible.
Similarly, for y<0y < 0 we have −1≥[y]=[−y]≥0-1 \ge [y] = [-y] \ge 0.
So y=0y = 0, i.e. x2−4[x]+1=0x^2 - 4[x] + 1 = 0.
Note that for x<1x < 1 we have [x]≤0[x] \le 0, therefore x2−4[x]+1≥1>0x^2 - 4[x] + 1 \ge 1 > 0.
Thus x≥1x \ge 1.
Let x=n+ax = n + a, where n∈Nn \in \mathbb{N}, 0≤a<10 \le a < 1.
Then 0=x2−4[x]+1=n2+2na+a2−4n+1=n(n−4)+2na+a2≥n(n−4)0 = x^2 - 4[x] + 1 = n^2 + 2na + a^2 - 4n + 1 = n(n - 4) + 2na + a^2 \ge n(n - 4), so n≤4n \le 4.
Therefore, 1≤n≤41 \le n \le 4.
If [x]=n=1, then x2−4[x]+1=x2−4+1=x2−3=0, so x=3. \text{If } [x] = n = 1, \text{ then } x^2 - 4[x] + 1 = x^2 - 4 + 1 = x^2 - 3 = 0, \text{ so } x = \sqrt{3}.
If [x]=n=2, then x2−4[x]+1=x2−8+1=x2−7=0, so x=7. \text{If } [x] = n = 2, \text{ then } x^2 - 4[x] + 1 = x^2 - 8 + 1 = x^2 - 7 = 0, \text{ so } x = \sqrt{7}.
If [x]=n=3, then x2−4[x]+1=x2−12+1=x2−11=0, so x=11. \text{If } [x] = n = 3, \text{ then } x^2 - 4[x] + 1 = x^2 - 12 + 1 = x^2 - 11 = 0, \text{ so } x = \sqrt{11}.
If [x]=n=4, then x2−4[x]+1=x2−16+1=x2−15=0, so x=15<4, contrary to [x]=4. \text{If } [x] = n = 4, \text{ then } x^2 - 4[x] + 1 = x^2 - 16 + 1 = x^2 - 15 = 0, \text{ so } x = \sqrt{15} < 4, \text{ contrary to } [x] = 4.

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