Maths Olympiad Prep

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Hrvatska, 2011

Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it Croatia

Determine all aa such that there exists unique (x,y)∈R2(x, y) \in \mathbb{R}^2 satisfying
2∣x∣+∣x∣=x2+y+a,x2+y2=1. 2^{|x|} + |x| = x^2 + y + a, \quad x^2 + y^2 = 1.

Solution

If the pair (x,y)(x, y) is the solution of the given system, then the pair (−x,y)(-x, y) is also the solution. We conclude that the unique solution of this system has to be of the form (0,y)(0, y).

Taking x=0x = 0 in the given system we get
1=y+a,y2=1, \begin{aligned} 1 &= y + a, \\ y^2 &= 1, \end{aligned}
so y=1y = 1 or y=−1y = -1, and hence a=0a = 0 or a=2a = 2.

2∣x∣+∣x∣=x2+y2^{|x|} + |x| = x^2 + y
x2+y2=1.x^2 + y^2 = 1.
It is easy to see that (0,1)(0, 1) is the solution. Let us show that there are no other solutions.
From the second equation it follows that ∣x∣≤1|x| \le 1 and ∣y∣≤1|y| \le 1. Because of 0≤∣x∣≤10 \le |x| \le 1 we get that ∣x∣≥x2|x| \ge x^2.
We also get 2∣x∣≥20=1≥∣y∣≥y2^{|x|} \ge 2^0 = 1 \ge |y| \ge y, so 2∣x∣+∣x∣≥x2+y2^{|x|} + |x| \ge x^2 + y.
For the equality to hold, we must have ∣x∣=0|x| = 0 and ∣y∣=y|y| = y, that is x=0x = 0 and y≥0y \ge 0. Because of the second equation it follows that (x,y)=(0,1)(x, y) = (0, 1), so this system has no other solutions.
In the case a=2a = 2 we can notice that the system
2∣x∣+∣x∣=x2+y+22^{|x|} + |x| = x^2 + y + 2
x2+y2=1x^2 + y^2 = 1
has (at least) three solutions (0,−1)(0, -1), (1,0)(1, 0), (−1,0)(-1, 0).
We conclude that the system has a unique solution if and only if a=0a = 0.

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