Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2022

Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Compute the sum of all 2-digit prime numbers pp such that there exists a prime number qq for which 100q+p100q + p is a perfect square.

Proposed by: Sheldon Kieren Tan

Solution

Solution:

All squares must end with 0,1,4,5,60, 1, 4, 5, 6, or 99, meaning that pp must end with 11 and 99. Moreover, since all odd squares are 1mod41 \bmod 4, we know that pp must be 1mod41 \bmod 4. This rules all primes except for 41,61,29,8941, 61, 29, 89. Since 172=28917^2 = 289, 192=36119^2 = 361, 232=52923^2 = 529, 89,6189, 61, and 2929 all work. To finish, we claim that 4141 does not work. If 100q+41100q + 41 were a square, then since all odd squares are 1mod81 \bmod 8 we find that 4q+11(mod8)4q + 1 \equiv 1 \pmod{8}, implying that qq is even. But 241241 is not a square, contradiction.

The final answer is 29+61+89=17929 + 61 + 89 = 179.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.