Let and be different positive integers. Prove that is never an integer.
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
By symmetry we can assume that . If , then
which is clearly not an integer. If , then
where the last inequality follows from .
Solution 2
If were an integer, then
\begin{aligned} \frac{x^2 + 4xy + y^2}{x^3 - y^3} &= \frac{x^2 + 4xy + y^2}{(x-y)(x^2 + xy + y^2)} \le \frac{x^2 + 4xy + y^2}{2(x^2 + xy + y^2)} < \\ &< \frac{2x^2 + 2xy + 2y^2}{2(x^2 + xy + y^2)} = 1, \end{aligned}
where the last inequality follows from .
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