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Number theory Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Turkey

a. Find all prime triples (p,q,r)(p, q, r) such that 3p+q+r3 \nmid p+q+r and both p+q+rp+q+r, pq+qr+rp+3pq+qr+rp+3 are perfect squares.
b. Is there any prime triple (p,q,r)(p, q, r) such that 3p+q+r3 \nmid p+q+r and both p+q+rp+q+r, pq+qr+rp+3pq+qr+rp+3 are perfect squares.

Solution

a. The answer: permutations of (2,3,11)(2, 3, 11).
Let p+q+r=x2p+q+r = x^2 and pq+qr+rp+3=y2pq+qr+rp+3 = y^2 where xx, yy are integers. Let us show that one of the primes pp, qq, rr is 22. If all primes pp, qq, rr are odd all possibilities up to permutations are: (p,q,r)=(1,1,1)(p, q, r) = (1, 1, 1), (1,1,3)(1, 1, 3), (1,3,3)(1, 3, 3), (3,3,3)(3, 3, 3) (mod 44). We get a contradiction in the cases (1,1,1)(1, 1, 1), (1,3,3)(1, 3, 3) since x2=p+q+r3(mod4)x^2 = p+q+r \equiv 3 \pmod{4} and in the cases (1,1,3)(1, 1, 3), (3,3,3)(3, 3, 3) since y23=pq+qr+rp3(mod4)y^2 - 3 = pq + qr + rp \equiv 3 \pmod{4}.
Therefore, at least one of pp, qq, rr is equal to 22. W.l.o.g. p=2p=2 and qrq \le r. Then q+r=x22q+r=x^2-2, qr=y22x2+1qr=y^2-2x^2+1.
Now if 3y3 \mid y, then (q+2)(r+2)=y2+11(mod3)(q+2)(r+2) = y^2+1 \equiv 1 \pmod{3}. Thus, either qr2(mod3)q \equiv r \equiv 2 \pmod{3} or qr0(mod3)q \equiv r \equiv 0 \pmod{3}. But for qr0(mod3)q \equiv r \equiv 0 \pmod{3} we get a contradiction: x220(mod3)x^2 - 2 \equiv 0 \pmod{3}. For qr2(mod3)q \equiv r \equiv 2 \pmod{3} we get x221(mod3)x^2 - 2 \equiv 1 \pmod{3} and 3x3 \mid x, but by assumption 3x3 \nmid x. Thus, 3y3 \mid y is not possible. Now since 3x3 \nmid x we get x2y21(mod3)x^2 \equiv y^2 \equiv 1 \pmod{3} and consequently qr=y22x2+10(mod3)qr = y^2 - 2x^2 + 1 \equiv 0 \pmod{3}. Thus, q=3q=3. Now r=x25r = x^2 - 5 and 3r=y22x2+13r = y^2 - 2x^2 + 1. Therefore 5r=y29=(y3)(y+3)5r = y^2 - 9 = (y-3)(y+3). For r=2,3,5r=2, 3, 5 xx is not an integer number. Therefore, r>5r > 5. Since y3=1y-3=1 yields no solution y3=5y-3=5, r=y+3r = y+3

and r=11r = 11. For x=4x = 4, y=8y = 8 we get (p,q,r)=(2,3,11)(p, q, r) = (2, 3, 11).

b. (p,q,r)=(2,11,23)(p, q, r) = (2, 11, 23) satisfies the conditions for (x,y)=(6,18)(x, y) = (6, 18).

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