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Number theory Difficulty 7.5 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Hong Kong

Find the integral solutions of the equation 7(x+y)=3(x2xy+y2)7(x + y) = 3(x^2 - xy + y^2).

Solution

The solutions are (x,y)=(0,0),(4,5),(5,4)(x, y) = (0, 0), (4, 5), (5, 4).
Let a=x+ya = x + y and b=xyb = x - y. The equation can be rewritten as
28(x+y)=3((x+y)2+3(xy)2), 28(x + y) = 3((x + y)^2 + 3(x - y)^2),
which means 28a=3(a2+3b2)28a = 3(a^2 + 3b^2). Clearly, 3a3 \mid a. Let a=3ca = 3c. The equation becomes
28c=9c2+3b2. 28c = 9c^2 + 3b^2.
We further find that 3c3 \mid c. Let c=3dc = 3d. The equation becomes
28d=27d2+b2. 28d = 27d^2 + b^2.
Now, as d(2827d)=b20d(28-27d) = b^2 \ge 0, we must have 0d28270 \le d \le \frac{28}{27}. The only integer solutions are d=0,1d = 0, 1.

When d=0d = 0, b=0b = 0. One finds that a=0a = 0, and hence x=y=0x = y = 0.

When d=1d = 1, b=±1b = \pm 1. One finds that a=9a = 9, and hence (x,y)=(4,5),(5,4)(x, y) = (4, 5), (5, 4).

All these are solutions since the steps are reversible.

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