Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Prove there are no integers aa and bb satisfying the following conditions:
i) 16a9b16 a - 9 b is a prime number

ii) aba b is a perfect square

iii) a+ba + b is a perfect square

Solution

Solution:
Suppose aa and bb be integers satisfying the given conditions. Let pp be a prime number, nn and mm be integers. Then we can write the conditions as follows:
16a9b=pab=n2a+b=m2 \begin{aligned} & 16 a - 9 b = p \\ & a b = n^2 \\ & a + b = m^2 \end{aligned}
Moreover, let d=gcd(a,b)d = \gcd(a, b) and a=dxa = d x, b=dyb = d y for some relatively prime integers xx and yy. Obviously a0a \neq 0 and b0b \neq 0, aa and bb are positive (by (2) and (3)).
From (2) follows that xx and yy are perfect squares, say x=l2x = l^2 and y=s2y = s^2.
From (1), dpd \mid p and hence d=pd = p or d=1d = 1. If d=pd = p, then 16x9y=116 x - 9 y = 1, and we obtain x=9k+4x = 9 k + 4, y=16k+7y = 16 k + 7 for some nonnegative integer kk. But then s2=y3(mod4)s^2 = y \equiv 3 \pmod{4}, which is a contradiction.
If d=1d = 1 then 16l29s2=p(4l3s)(4l+3s)=p(4l+3s=p4l3s=1)16 l^2 - 9 s^2 = p \Rightarrow (4 l - 3 s)(4 l + 3 s) = p \Rightarrow (4 l + 3 s = p \wedge 4 l - 3 s = 1).
By adding the last two equations we get 8l=p+18 l = p + 1 and by subtracting them we get 6s=p16 s = p - 1. Therefore p=24t+7p = 24 t + 7 for some integer tt and a=(3t+1)2a = (3 t + 1)^2 and b=(4t+1)2b = (4 t + 1)^2 satisfy the conditions (1) and (2). By (3) we have m2=(3t+1)2+(4t+1)2=25t2+14t+2m^2 = (3 t + 1)^2 + (4 t + 1)^2 = 25 t^2 + 14 t + 2, or equivalently 25m2=(25t+7)2+125 m^2 = (25 t + 7)^2 + 1.
Since the difference between two nonzero perfect squares cannot be 11, we have a contradiction. As a result there is no solution.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.