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Number theory Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Find all pairs (a;b)(a; b) of integers aa and bb satisfying the equality (b2+7(ab))2=a3b(b^2 + 7(a - b))^2 = a^3 b.

Solution

Answer: a=b=ta = b = t, tZt \in \mathbb{Z}, (a;b)=(18;2)(a; b) = (-18; -2), (a;b)=(0;7)(a; b) = (0; 7), (a;b)=(12;3)(a; b) = (12; 3).

We rearrange the initial equation (b2+7(ab))2=a3b(b^2 + 7(a-b))^2 = a^3 b:
(b2+7(ab))2=a3bb4+14b2(ab)+49(ab)2=a3ba3bb414b2(ab)49(ab)2=0b(a3b3)14b2(ab)49(ab)2=0(ab)(ba2+ab2+b314b249(ab))=0. \begin{align*} (b^2 + 7(a-b))^2 &= a^3 b \Leftrightarrow b^4 + 14b^2(a-b) + 49(a-b)^2 = a^3 b \Leftrightarrow \\ &\qquad a^3 b - b^4 - 14b^2(a-b) - 49(a-b)^2 = 0 \Leftrightarrow \\ &\qquad b(a^3 - b^3) - 14b^2(a-b) - 49(a-b)^2 = 0 \Leftrightarrow \\ &\qquad (a-b)(ba^2 + ab^2 + b^3 - 14b^2 - 49(a-b)) = 0. \tag{1} \end{align*}
If a=ba = b, then it is evident that (1) holds. Therefore we have the infinite set of the integer solutions: a=b=ta = b = t, where tZt \in \mathbb{Z}.

Let aba \neq b, then from (1) it follows that
ba2+ab2+b314b249(ab)=0.(2) ba^2 + ab^2 + b^3 - 14b^2 - 49(a-b) = 0. \quad (2)
If b=0b=0, then from (2) it follows that a=0a=0, i.e. a=b=0a=b=0, a contradiction. Thus b0b \neq 0. Consider (2) as a quadratic equation with respect to aa.
ba2+(b249)a+b314b2+49b=0.(3) ba^2 + (b^2 - 49)a + b^3 - 14b^2 + 49b = 0. \quad (3)
The discriminant D(b)D(b) of this equation is
D(b)=(b249)24b(b314b2+49b)=((b7)(b+7))24b2(b7)2==(b7)2((b+7)24b2)=(b7)3(3b+7). \begin{align*} D(b) = (b^2 - 49)^2 - 4b(b^3 - 14b^2 + 49b) &= ((b-7)(b+7))^2 - 4b^2(b-7)^2 = \\ &= (b-7)^2((b+7)^2 - 4b^2) = -(b-7)^3(3b+7). \end{align*}
Equation (3) has real solutions iff D(b)0D(b) \ge 0, i.e. for b[7/3;7]b \in [-7/3; 7]. The segment [7/3;7][-7/3; 7] contains exactly ten integers: 2,1,0,1,2,3,4,5,6-2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 77. Since b0b \neq 0 and a1,2=(49b2±D)/(2b)a_{1,2} = (49 - b^2 \pm \sqrt{D})/(2b), we have exactly four integers (b=2,3,6,7b = -2, 3, 6, 7) such that D(b)D(b) is a perfect square (we need integer solutions of (3)).

1) If b=2b = -2, then D=272D = 27^2 and either a1=9/2a_1 = -9/2 or a2=18a_2 = -18, so, in this case (a;b)=(18;2)(a; b) = (-18; -2) is a required solution.

2) If b=3b = 3, then D=210D = 2^{10} and either a1=4/3a_1 = 4/3 or a2=12a_2 = 12, so (a;b)=(12;3)(a; b) = (12; 3) is a required solution.

3) If b=6b = 6, then D=52D = 5^2 and either a1=13/12a_1 = 13/12 or a2=85/12a_2 = 85/12, so there are no solutions in this case.

4) If b=7b = 7, then D=0D = 0 and a1,2=0a_{1,2} = 0, so (a;b)=(0;7)(a; b) = (0; 7).

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