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Junior Balkan Mathematics Olympiad

Number theory Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Determine the number of pairs of integers (m,n)(m, n) such that
n+2016+m−2016∈Q \sqrt{n+\sqrt{2016}}+\sqrt{m-\sqrt{2016}} \in \mathbb{Q}

Solution

Solution:
Let r=n+2016+m−2016r=\sqrt{n+\sqrt{2016}}+\sqrt{m-\sqrt{2016}}. Then
n+m+2n+2016⋅m−2016=r2 n+m+2 \sqrt{n+\sqrt{2016}} \cdot \sqrt{m-\sqrt{2016}}=r^{2}
and
(m−n)2016=14(r2−m−n)2−mn+2016∈Q (m-n) \sqrt{2016}=\frac{1}{4}\left(r^{2}-m-n\right)^{2}-m n+2016 \in \mathbb{Q}
Since 2016∉Q\sqrt{2016} \notin \mathbb{Q}, it follows that m=nm=n. Then
n2−2016=12(r2−2n)∈Q \sqrt{n^{2}-2016}=\frac{1}{2}\left(r^{2}-2 n\right) \in \mathbb{Q}
Hence, there is some nonnegative integer pp such that n2−2016=p2n^{2}-2016=p^{2} and (1) becomes 2n+2p=r22 n+2 p=r^{2}.
It follows that 2(n+p)=r22(n+p)=r^{2} is the square of a rational and also an integer, hence a perfect square. On the other hand, 2016=(n−p)(n+p)2016=(n-p)(n+p) and n+pn+p is a divisor of 2016, larger than 2016\sqrt{2016}. Since n+pn+p is even, so is also n−pn-p, and r2=2(n+p)r^{2}=2(n+p) is a divisor of 2016=25⋅32⋅72016=2^{5} \cdot 3^{2} \cdot 7, larger than 22016>882 \sqrt{2016}>88. The only possibility is r2=24⋅32=122r^{2}=2^{4} \cdot 3^{2}=12^{2}. Hence, n+p=72n+p=72 and n−p=28n-p=28, and we conclude that n=m=50n=m=50. Thus, there is only one such pair.

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