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Algebra Difficulty 8.4 Shortlist Prove it Hong Kong

Find the sum of all positive integers mm such that for each such mm, there exists a positive integer nn satisfying (2m+1)nm(3m+1)=2013\left\lfloor \frac{(2m+1)^n}{m(3m+1)} \right\rfloor = 2013, where x\lfloor x \rfloor denotes the greatest integer not exceeding xx.

Solution

The answer is 759759.

For m=1,2,3m = 1, 2, 3, the left-hand side becomes [3n4]\left[\frac{3^n}{4}\right], [5n14]\left[\frac{5^n}{14}\right], [7n30]\left[\frac{7^n}{30}\right]. Since
[384]<2013<[394],[5614]<2013<[5714],[7530]<2013<[7630], \left[\frac{3^8}{4}\right] < 2013 < \left[\frac{3^9}{4}\right], \quad \left[\frac{5^6}{14}\right] < 2013 < \left[\frac{5^7}{14}\right], \quad \left[\frac{7^5}{30}\right] < 2013 < \left[\frac{7^6}{30}\right],
there is no solution.

For m4m \ge 4, we have
211>2014>(2m+1)nm(3m+1)>(2m)nm(4m)=2n2mn22n24n2=23n6. 2^{11} > 2014 > \frac{(2m+1)^n}{m(3m+1)} > \frac{(2m)^n}{m(4m)} = 2^{n-2}m^{n-2} \ge 2^{n-2}4^{n-2} = 2^{3n-6}.
This implies n5n \le 5.

* For n2n \le 2, we have (2m+1)nm(3m+1)<(3m)2m(3m)=3<2013\frac{(2m+1)^n}{m(3m+1)} < \frac{(3m)^2}{m(3m)} = 3 < 2013.

* For n=3n = 3, we have
(2m+1)3m(3m+1)=8m3+12m2+6m+13m2+m=83m+289+26m+99(3m2+m). \frac{(2m+1)^3}{m(3m+1)} = \frac{8m^3 + 12m^2 + 6m + 1}{3m^2 + m} = \frac{8}{3}m + \frac{28}{9} + \frac{26m+9}{9(3m^2 + m)}.
Clearly, the last fraction is less than 11. So we need 2012<83m+289<20142012 < \frac{8}{3}m + \frac{28}{9} < 2014.
The only integer solution is m=754m = 754. We check that
[83(754)+289+26(754)+99(3(754)2+(754))]=[2013+79+26(754)+99(3(754)2+(754))]=2013 \begin{aligned} & \left[ \frac{8}{3}(754) + \frac{28}{9} + \frac{26(754) + 9}{9(3(754)^2 + (754))} \right] \\ &= \left[ 2013 + \frac{7}{9} + \frac{26(754) + 9}{9(3(754)^2 + (754))} \right] \\ &= 2013 \end{aligned}
since 26(754)+99(3(754)2+(754))<27(754)27(754)2<29\frac{26(754) + 9}{9(3(754)^2 + (754))} < \frac{27(754)}{27(754)^2} < \frac{2}{9}. So m=754m = 754 is a solution.

* For n4n \ge 4, we claim that f(m)=(2m+1)nm(3m+1)f(m) = \frac{(2m+1)^n}{m(3m+1)} is increasing in mm. Note that
lnf(m)=nln(2m+1)lnmln(3m+1), \ln f(m) = n \ln(2m+1) - \ln m - \ln(3m+1),
and so
f(m)f(m)=2n2m+11m33m+182m+132m+132m+1>0. \frac{f'(m)}{f(m)} = \frac{2n}{2m+1} - \frac{1}{m} - \frac{3}{3m+1} \ge \frac{8}{2m+1} - \frac{3}{2m+1} - \frac{3}{2m+1} > 0.
Thus, f(m)>0f'(m) > 0, so that ff is increasing.

Now, for n=4n = 4, we check that
(2(18)+1)418(3(18)+1)=3741855=13692990<2013 \frac{(2(18) + 1)^4}{18(3(18) + 1)} = \frac{37^4}{18 \cdot 55} = \frac{1369^2}{990} < 2013
and
(2(19)+1)419(3(19)+1)=3941958=152121102>2014. \frac{(2(19) + 1)^4}{19(3(19) + 1)} = \frac{39^4}{19 \cdot 58} = \frac{1521^2}{1102} > 2014.
There is no solution.

(2(4)+1)54(3(4)+1)=95413=5904952<2013, \frac{(2(4) + 1)^5}{4(3(4) + 1)} = \frac{9^5}{4 \cdot 13} = \frac{59049}{52} < 2013,
[(2(5)+1)55(3(5)+1)]=[115516]=[16105180]=2013 \left[ \frac{(2(5) + 1)^5}{5(3(5) + 1)} \right] = \left[ \frac{11^5}{5 \cdot 16} \right] = \left[ \frac{161051}{80} \right] = 2013
and
(2(6)+1)56(3(6)+1)=135619=371293114>2014. \frac{(2(6) + 1)^5}{6(3(6) + 1)} = \frac{13^5}{6 \cdot 19} = \frac{371293}{114} > 2014.
Thus, m=5m = 5 is another solution.

To summarize, the answer is 754+5=759754 + 5 = 759.

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