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Number theory Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it South Africa

Let pp and kk be positive integers such that pp is prime and k>1k > 1. Prove that there is at most one pair (x,y)(x, y) of positive integers such that
xk+px=yk. x^k + px = y^k.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

We distinguish two different cases:

Case 1: gcd(x,p)=1\text{gcd}(x, p) = 1. In this case, xx and xk1+px^{k-1} + p do not have a common divisor (other than 1) either, and it follows from the factorisation
x(xk1+p)=yk x(x^{k-1} + p) = y^k
that both xx and xk1+px^{k-1} + p have to be kkth powers, say x=ukx = u^k and xk1+p=vkx^{k-1} + p = v^k. Then it follows that
p=vkuk(k1)=(vuk1)(vk1+vk2uk1++u(k1)2). p = v^k - u^{k(k-1)} = (v - u^{k-1}) (v^{k-1} + v^{k-2}u^{k-1} + \dots + u^{(k-1)^2}).
Both factors have to be positive, and it is clear that
vuk1<vvk1vk1+vk2uk1++u(k1)2, v - u^{k-1} < v \le v^{k-1} \le v^{k-1} + v^{k-2}u^{k-1} + \dots + u^{(k-1)^2},
so since pp is given to be a prime number, we must have vuk1=1v-u^{k-1} = 1 and thus v=uk1+1v = u^{k-1}+1.
Then
p=(uk1+1)k1+(uk1+1)k2uk1++u(k1)2. p = (u^{k-1} + 1)^{k-1} + (u^{k-1} + 1)^{k-2} u^{k-1} + \dots + u^{(k-1)^2}.
The right hand side is an increasing function of uu, so there is at most one value of uu which satisfies the equation. If there is such an integer uu, then there is only one corresponding vv and thus only one solution (x,y)(x, y).

Case 2: gcd(x,p)=p\text{gcd}(x, p) = p. Then xk+pxx^k + px has to be divisible by pp, which implies that yky^k, and thus yy, is divisible by pp as well. It follows that xkx^k and yky^k are divisible by pkp^k, hence this has to be the case for pxpx as well, so x=pk1ux = p^{k-1}u for some integer uu. Since yy is divisible by pp, we can also set y=pvy = pv to obtain
pk(k1)uk+pku=pkvk p^{k(k-1)}u^k + p^k u = p^k v^k
so that vv would have to lie between the two consecutive integers pk2up^{k-2}u and pk2u+1p^{k-2}u + 1, an obvious contradiction.
We conclude that there is always at most one solution (x,y)(x, y).

Solution 2

Since xk+px=ykx^k + px = y^k, we define α\alpha as the difference between xx and yy. Then
xk+px=(x+α)k>xk+αxα<p. x^k + px = (x + \alpha)^k > x^k + \alpha x \quad \Rightarrow \quad \alpha < p.
In addition
α(x+α)kxk=pxαx. \alpha|(x + \alpha)^k - x^k = px \quad \Rightarrow \quad \alpha|x.
On the other hand, by binomially expanding (x+α)k(x + \alpha)^k, every term (except αk\alpha^k) in the equation is divisible by xx, therefore xαkx|\alpha^k. Let β=αk/x\beta = \alpha^k/x – we will show that β=1\beta = 1.
px=(x+α)kxkβkpx=(βx+βα)k(βx)kβk1pαk=(αk+βα)k(αk)kβk1p=(αk1+β)k(αk1)k \begin{aligned} px &= (x + \alpha)^k - x^k \\ \beta^k px &= (\beta x + \beta \alpha)^k - (\beta x)^k \\ \beta^{k-1} p \alpha^k &= (\alpha^k + \beta \alpha)^k - (\alpha^k)^k \\ \beta^{k-1} p &= (\alpha^{k-1} + \beta)^k - (\alpha^{k-1})^k \end{aligned}
However, since αx\alpha|x, xαkx|\alpha^k and xβ=αkx\beta = \alpha^k, we have βαk1\beta|\alpha^{k-1}. This means that every term on the right hand side is divisible by βk\beta^k, and the left is only pβk1p\beta^{k-1}. So either p=βp = \beta, in which case we require
yk=(x+α)k=xk+px=xk+αk, y^k = (x + \alpha)^k = x^k + px = x^k + \alpha^k,
which has no solutions for x>0x > 0, or β=1\beta = 1, in which case x=αkx = \alpha^k. The equation can then be written as p=(αk1+1)k(αk1)kp = (\alpha^{k-1} + 1)^k - (\alpha^{k-1})^k, and as the right hand side is a strictly increasing function of α\alpha, for a given pp and kk there can be at most one solution.

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