Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Find all pairs (n,m)(n, m) of positive integers such that the arithmetic and geometric means of mm and nn are different two-digit numbers consisting of the same digits.

Solution

Let 10a+b10a + b be the arithmetic mean of the given numbers, where aa and bb are decimal digits. Let 10a+b+x10a + b + x and 10a+bx10a + b - x be the numbers we are searching for. Then, by the premises
(10a+b+x)(10a+bx)=10b+a, \sqrt{(10a + b + x)(10a + b - x)} = 10b + a,
which after squaring and simplifying gives x2=99(a2b2)x^2 = 99(a^2 - b^2). So, x2x^2 is divisible by 9999, implying x2x^2 is divisible by 33 and 1111. Since 33 and 1111 are primes, xx itself is divisible by 33 and 1111, and therefore by 3333. Denoting x=33zx = 33z, we get
11z2=9911z299=x299=a2b2=(a+b)(ab), 11z^2 = \frac{99 \cdot 11z^2}{99} = \frac{x^2}{99} = a^2 - b^2 = (a+b)(a-b),
from which we see, that the product (a+b)(ab)(a+b)(a-b) is divisible by 1111. Since 1111 is a prime, either a+ba+b or aba-b is divisible by 1111. Since ab0a-b \neq 0 and aa and bb are single-digit numbers, we must have a+b=11a+b = 11. Therefore ab=z2a-b = z^2. Since aba-b and a+ba+b are either both odd or both even, zz must be odd. So, z=1z=1, since z3z \ge 3 implies x99x \ge 99, but 10a+bx10a+b-x must be positive. So, a=6a=6, b=5b=5, x=33x=33, and the corresponding pair is (98,32)(98, 32).

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