Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Find all pairs of integers (x,y)(x, y), for which
2x+log3x=y2 and 2y+log3y=x2. 2^x + \log_3 x = y^2 \text{ and } 2^y + \log_3 y = x^2.

Solution

The equality 2x+log3x+x2=2y+log3y+y22^x + \log_3 x + x^2 = 2^y + \log_3 y + y^2 is readily obtained, and since the function f:(0,+)R,f(t)=2t+log3t+t2f: (0, +\infty) \to \mathbb{R}, f(t) = 2^t + \log_3 t + t^2 is increasing, hence one-to-one, we deduce that x=yx = y.

Observe that x=3x = 3 is a solution for the equation 2x+log3x=x22^x + \log_3 x = x^2, while 11, 22, and 44 are not. For xN,x5x \in \mathbb{N}, x \ge 5, we can easily show inductively that 2x>x22^x > x^2. In conclusion, the given system has only one solution, namely (x,y)=(3,3)(x, y) = (3, 3).

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