Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it India

Problem:
Let mm and nn be positive integers such that the equation x2mx+n=0x^{2}-m x+n=0 has real roots α\alpha and β\beta. Prove that α\alpha and β\beta are integers if and only if [mα]+[mβ][m \alpha]+[m \beta] is the square of an integer. (Here [x][x] denotes the largest integer not exceeding xx.)

Solution

Solution:
If α\alpha and β\beta are both integers, then
[mα]+[mβ]=mα+mβ=m(α+β)=m2 [m \alpha]+[m \beta]=m \alpha+m \beta=m(\alpha+\beta)=m^{2}
This proves one implication.

Observe that α+β=m\alpha+\beta=m and αβ=n\alpha \beta=n. We use the property of integer function: x1<[x]xx-1<[x] \leq x for any real number xx. Thus
m22=m(α+β)2=mα1+mβ1<[mα]+[mβ]m(α+β)=m2. m^{2}-2=m(\alpha+\beta)-2=m \alpha-1+m \beta-1<[m \alpha]+[m \beta] \leq m(\alpha+\beta)=m^{2}.
Since mm and nn are positive integers, both α\alpha and β\beta must be positive. If m2m \geq 2, we observe that there is no square between m22m^{2}-2 and m2m^{2}. Hence, either m=1m=1 or [mα]+[mβ]=m2[m \alpha]+[m \beta]=m^{2}. If m=1m=1, then α+β=1\alpha+\beta=1 implies that both α\alpha and β\beta are positive reals smaller than 1. Hence n=αβn=\alpha \beta cannot be a positive integer. We conclude that [mα]+[mβ]=m2[m \alpha]+[m \beta]=m^{2}.

Putting m=α+βm=\alpha+\beta in this relation, we get
[α2+n]+[β2+n]=(α+β)2 \left[\alpha^{2}+n\right]+\left[\beta^{2}+n\right]= (\alpha+\beta)^{2}
Using [x+k]=[x]+k[x+k]=[x]+k for any real number xx and integer kk, this reduces to
[α2]+[β2]=α2+β2 \left[\alpha^{2}\right]+\left[\beta^{2}\right]=\alpha^{2}+\beta^{2}
This shows that α2\alpha^{2} and β2\beta^{2} are both integers. On the other hand,
α2β2=(α+β)(αβ)=m(αβ) \alpha^{2}-\beta^{2}=(\alpha+\beta)(\alpha-\beta)=m(\alpha-\beta)
Thus
(αβ)=α2β2m (\alpha-\beta)=\frac{\alpha^{2}-\beta^{2}}{m}
is a rational number. Since α+β=m\alpha+\beta=m is a rational number, it follows that both α\alpha and β\beta are rational numbers. However, both α2\alpha^{2} and β2\beta^{2} are integers. Hence each of α\alpha and β\beta is an integer.

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