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Number theory Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it Bulgaria

(Peter Boyvalenkov) Find the least positive integer which cannot be written in the form x3x2y+y2+xyx^3 - x^2y + y^2 + x - y, where xx and yy are positive integers.

Solution

Let F(x,y)=x3x2y+y2+xyF(x, y) = x^3 - x^2y + y^2 + x - y. Note that F(1,1)=1F(1, 1) = 1 and F(1,2)=2F(1, 2) = 2. We shall prove that the equation F(x,y)=3F(x, y) = 3 has no solution in positive integers. Write this equation in the form
y2(1+x2)y+x3+x3=0. y^2 - (1 + x^2)y + x^3 + x - 3 = 0.
Its discriminant with respect to yy equals
D=(1+x2)24(x3+x3)=x44x3+2x24x+13. D = (1 + x^2)^2 - 4(x^3 + x - 3) = x^4 - 4x^3 + 2x^2 - 4x + 13.
Since D<(x22x1)2D < (x^2 - 2x - 1)^2 for any integer x2x \ge 2 and D>(x22x2)2D > (x^2 - 2x - 2)^2 for any integer x6x \ge 6, the equation F(x,y)=3F(x, y) = 3 has no positive integer solutions if x6x \ge 6.
Direct verifications show the same if x{1,2,3,4,5}x \in \{1, 2, 3, 4, 5\}.
Hence the wanted integer is 3.

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