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Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Find the answer

Solve the equation

8x3+8x2y+8xy2+8y3=15(x2+y2+xy+1) 8 x^{3}+8 x^{2} y+8 x y^{2}+8 y^{3}=15\left(x^{2}+y^{2}+x y+1\right)

in the set of integers.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

We transform the equation to the following one

(x2+y2)(8x+8y15)=15(xy+1) \left(x^{2}+y^{2}\right)(8 x+8 y-15)=15(x y+1)

Since the right side is divisible by 3, then 3(x2+y2)(8x+8y15)3 \mid \left(x^{2}+y^{2}\right)(8 x+8 y-15). But if 3(x2+y2)3 \mid \left(x^{2}+y^{2}\right), then 3x3 \mid x and 3y3 \mid y, which will give 15(xy+1)15(x y+1) and 3(xy+1)3 \mid (x y+1), which is impossible. Hence 3(x+y)3 \mid (x+y) and 3 does not divide xx or yy. Without loss of generality we can assume that x=3a+1x=3 a+1 and y=3b+2y=3 b+2. Substituting in the equation, we obtain

(x2+y2)(8(a+b)+3)=5(xy+1) \left(x^{2}+y^{2}\right)(8(a+b)+3)=5(x y+1)

Since xy+10(mod3)x y+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{3}, we conclude that 3(a+b)3 \mid (a+b).

Now we distinguish the following cases:

- If a+b=0a+b=0, then x=3a+1x=3 a+1 and y=3a+2y=-3 a+2 from which we get

(9a2+6a+1+9a212a+4)3=5(9a2+3a+3) or 3a2a=0 \left(9 a^{2}+6 a+1+9 a^{2}-12 a+4\right) \cdot 3=5\left(-9 a^{2}+3 a+3\right) \text { or } 3 a^{2}-a=0

But a=13a=\frac{1}{3} is not an integer, so a=0a=0 and x=1,y=2x=1, y=2. Thus, by symmetry, we have two solutions (x,y)=(1,2)(x, y)=(1,2) and (x,y)=(2,1)(x, y)=(2,1).

- If a+b0a+b \neq 0, then 8(a+b)+321|8(a+b)+3| \geq 21. So we obtain

(x2+y2)(8(a+b)+3)21x2+21y25xy+5 \left|\left(x^{2}+y^{2}\right)(8(a+b)+3)\right| \geq 21 x^{2}+21 y^{2} \geq|5 x y+5|

which means that the equation has no other solutions.

## Geometry

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.