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Number theory Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

Find all triples of positive integers (x,y,z)(x, y, z) satisfying
x2+4y=5z. x^2 + 4^y = 5^z.

Find all triples of positive integers (x,y,z)(x, y, z) satisfying
x2+4y=5z. x^2 + 4^y = 5^z.

Solution

All solutions are (1,1,1)(1, 1, 1), (11,1,3)(11, 1, 3), (3,2,2)(3, 2, 2).

We first deal with the case y2y \ge 2. We have
x25z(mod8), x^2 \equiv 5^z \pmod{8},
and x20,1,4x^2 \equiv 0, 1, 4, 5z1,55^z \equiv 1, 5, so zz is even. Let z=2zz = 2z', then
x2+(2y)2=(5z)2. x^2 + (2^y)^2 = (5^{z'})^2.
Since 5z5^{z'} and 2y2^y are coprime and 22y2 \mid 2^y, by the Pythagorean triple formula we have
x=m2n2,2y=2mn,5z=m2+n2, x = m^2 - n^2, \quad 2^y = 2mn, \quad 5^{z'} = m^2 + n^2,
where m,nm, n are coprime and m>nm > n. From 2y=2mn2^y = 2mn we get m=2y1,n=1m = 2^{y-1}, n = 1, so 5z=22(y1)+15^{z'} = 2^{2(y-1)}+1.
If y3y \ge 3, then
5z1(mod8)    2z, 5^{z'} \equiv 1 \pmod{8} \implies 2 \mid z',
let z=2zz' = 2z'', then
(5z+1)(5z1)=22(y1)    5z+1=2a, 5z1=2b. (5^{z''} + 1)(5^{z''} - 1) = 2^{2(y-1)} \implies 5^{z''} + 1 = 2^a,\ 5^{z''} - 1 = 2^b.
Note that 44 does not divide one of 5z+15^{z''} + 1 and 5z15^{z''} - 1, so a=1a = 1 or b=1b = 1, and it is easy to see there is no solution in this case.
If y=2y = 2, we obtain the solution (x,y,z)=(3,2,2)(x, y, z) = (3, 2, 2).

Now suppose y=1y = 1. We have
x2+45z(mod8), x^2 + 4 \equiv 5^z \pmod{8},
and x2+40,4,5x^2 + 4 \equiv 0, 4, 5, 5z1,55^z \equiv 1, 5, so zz is odd. Let z=2z+1z = 2z' + 1, and consider the Pell equation
s25t2=4, s^2 - 5t^2 = -4,
we wish to find solutions (s,t)=(x,5z)(s, t) = (x, 5^{z'}). If (s,t)(s, t) is a solution in positive integers, we know that (3s5t2,3ts2)(\frac{3s-5t}{2}, \frac{3t-s}{2}) is also a solution in integers (note that s,ts, t have the same parity), so we can always descend a solution (s,t)(s, t) until
3s5t or 3ts. 3s \le 5t \text{ or } 3t \le s.
Note that 3t>s3t > s always holds. For 3s5t3s \le 5t, we have
20t2=25t245t29(s25t2)=36    t=1    s=1. -20t^2 = 25t^2 - 45t^2 \ge 9(s^2 - 5t^2) = -36 \implies t = 1 \implies s = 1.
Thus we obtain all positive integer solutions (sn,tn)(s_n, t_n) satisfying
(s0,t0)=(1,1),sn+1=3sn+5tn2,tn+1=3tn+sn2. (s_0, t_0) = (1, 1), \quad s_{n+1} = \frac{3s_n + 5t_n}{2}, \quad t_{n+1} = \frac{3t_n + s_n}{2}.
Observing the first few terms (s1,t1)=(4,2)(s_1, t_1) = (4, 2), (s2,t2)=(11,5)(s_2, t_2) = (11, 5), ..., and considering the Fibonacci sequence
F0=0,F1=1,F2=1,F3=2,F4=3,F5=5,, F_0 = 0, F_1 = 1, F_2 = 1, F_3 = 2, F_4 = 3, F_5 = 5, \dots,
from the above recurrence we can guess and verify that
(sn,tn)=(F2n+2+F2n,F2n+1). (s_n, t_n) = (F_{2n+2} + F_{2n}, F_{2n+1}).
If tn=5zt_n = 5^{z'}, we get z=0z' = 0 or 5F2n+15 \mid F_{2n+1}. The former gives the solution (x,y,z)=(1,1,1)(x, y, z) = (1, 1, 1), and the latter, by the pattern of the Fibonacci sequence modulo 5, gives 5n:=2n+15 \mid n' := 2n + 1. If p5p \ne 5 is a prime factor of nn', then p>2p > 2 and
FpFn=5z, F_p \mid F_{n'} = 5^{z'},
but Fp1F_p \ne 1 and 5Fp5 \nmid F_p, a contradiction. Therefore nn' is a power of 5. If z>1z' > 1, then n>5n' > 5, so 25n25 \mid n', hence F25Fn=5zF_{25} \mid F_{n'} = 5^{z'}, but F25=75025F_{25} = 75025 is not a power of 5, a contradiction. Therefore z=1z' = 1, and we obtain the solution (x,y,z)=(11,1,3)(x, y, z) = (11, 1, 3).

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.