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Number theory Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it North Macedonia

Find all prime numbers aa, bb, cc and positive integers kk satisfying the equation
a2+b2+16c2=9k2+1 a^2 + b^2 + 16c^2 = 9k^2 + 1

Solution

The relation 9k2+11(mod3)9k^2 + 1 \equiv 1 \pmod{3} implies
a2+b2+16c21(mod3)a2+b2+c21(mod3).a^2 + b^2 + 16c^2 \equiv 1 \pmod{3} \quad \Leftrightarrow \quad a^2 + b^2 + c^2 \equiv 1 \pmod{3}.
Since a20,1(mod3)a^2 \equiv 0,1 \pmod{3}, b20,1(mod3)b^2 \equiv 0,1 \pmod{3}, c20,1(mod3)c^2 \equiv 0,1 \pmod{3}, we have:

a2a^200001111
b2b^200110011
c2c^201010101
a2+b2+c2a^2 + b^2 + c^201121220

From the previous table it follows that two of three prime numbers aa, bb, cc are equal to 33.

Case 1. a=b=3a = b = 3. We have
a2+b2+16c2=9k2+19k216c2=17(3k4c)(3k+4c)=17 a^2 + b^2 + 16c^2 = 9k^2 + 1 \Leftrightarrow 9k^2 - 16c^2 = 17 \Leftrightarrow (3k - 4c)(3k + 4c) = 17
If {3k4c=13k+4c=17\begin{cases} 3k - 4c = 1 \\ 3k + 4c = 17 \end{cases}, then {c=2k=3\begin{cases} c = 2 \\ k = 3 \end{cases} and (a,b,c,k)=(3,3,2,3)(a, b, c, k) = (3, 3, 2, 3).
If {3k4c=13k+4c=17\begin{cases} 3k - 4c = -1 \\ 3k + 4c = -17 \end{cases}, then {c=2k=3\begin{cases} c = 2 \\ k = -3 \end{cases} and (a,b,c,k)=(3,3,2,3)(a, b, c, k) = (3, 3, 2, -3).

Case 2. c=3c = 3. If (3,b0,c,k)(3, b_0, c, k) is a solution of the given equation, then (b0,3,c,k)(b_0, 3, c, k) is a solution, too.
Let a=3a = 3. We have
a2+b2+16c2=9k2+19k2b2=152(3kb)(3k+b)=152. a^2 + b^2 + 16c^2 = 9k^2 + 1 \Leftrightarrow 9k^2 - b^2 = 152 \Leftrightarrow (3k - b)(3k + b) = 152.
Both factors shall have the same parity and we obtain only 4 cases:
If {3kb=23k+b=76\begin{cases} 3k - b = 2 \\ 3k + b = 76 \end{cases}, then {b=37k=13\begin{cases} b = 37 \\ k = 13 \end{cases} and (a,b,c,k)=(3,37,3,13)(a, b, c, k) = (3, 37, 3, 13).
If {3kb=43k+b=38\begin{cases} 3k - b = 4 \\ 3k + b = 38 \end{cases}, then {b=17k=7\begin{cases} b = 17 \\ k = 7 \end{cases} and (a,b,c,k)=(3,17,3,7)(a, b, c, k) = (3, 17, 3, 7).
If {3kb=763k+b=2\begin{cases} 3k - b = -76 \\ 3k + b = -2 \end{cases}, then {b=37k=13\begin{cases} b = 37 \\ k = -13 \end{cases} and (a,b,c,k)=(3,37,3,13)(a, b, c, k) = (3, 37, 3, -13).
If {3kb=383k+b=4\begin{cases} 3k - b = -38 \\ 3k + b = -4 \end{cases}, then {b=17k=7\begin{cases} b = 17 \\ k = -7 \end{cases} and (a,b,c,k)=(3,17,3,7)(a, b, c, k) = (3, 17, 3, -7).
In addition, (a,b,c,k){(37,3,3,13),(17,3,3,7),(37,3,3,13),(17,3,3,7)}(a, b, c, k) \in \{(37, 3, 3, 13), (17, 3, 3, 7), (37, 3, 3, -13), (17, 3, 3, -7)\}.
So, the given equation has 10 solutions:
S={(37,3,3,13),(17,3,3,7),(37,3,3,13),(17,3,3,7),(3,37,3,13),(3,17,3,7),(3,37,3,13),(3,17,3,7),(3,3,2,3),(3,3,2,3)}. S = \{(37, 3, 3, 13), (17, 3, 3, 7), (37, 3, 3, -13), (17, 3, 3, -7), (3, 37, 3, 13), (3, 17, 3, 7), (3, 37, 3, -13), (3, 17, 3, -7), (3, 3, 2, 3), (3, 3, 2, -3)\}.

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