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Number theory Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Find the answer

Find all pairs (x,y)(x, y) of integers that satisfy

x2+y2+33=456xy. x^{2}+y^{2}+3^{3}=456 \sqrt{x-y} .

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Since the left side is an integer, the right side must also be an integer. The square root of an integer is either an integer or irrational (but never a non-integer fraction), so xy\sqrt{x-y} must be an integer. The right side of the equation is divisible by 3, so the left side must also be. Thus, 3x2+y23 \mid x^{2}+y^{2}. But squares are always congruent to 0 or 1 modulo 3, so this can only happen if x2y20mod3x^{2} \equiv y^{2} \equiv 0 \bmod 3. Therefore, xx and yy are both divisible by 3. Write x=3ax=3 a and y=3by=3 b and substitute this in:

9a2+9b2+33=4563a3b 9 a^{2}+9 b^{2}+3^{3}=456 \sqrt{3 a-3 b}

Square roots of integers are generally either integers or irrational. But 3a3b\sqrt{3 a-3 b} cannot be irrational, because it is equal to 9a2+9b2+33456\frac{9 a^{2}+9 b^{2}+3^{3}}{456}, so it must be an integer. Therefore, 3a3b3 a-3 b is a square, which is also divisible by 3, so it must be divisible by 9. We can now divide both sides of the equation by 9:

a2+b2+3=152ab3 a^{2}+b^{2}+3=152 \sqrt{\frac{a-b}{3}}

Write ab=3c2a-b=3 c^{2} and substitute a=b+3c2a=b+3 c^{2}:

9c4+6c2b+2b2+3=152c 9 c^{4}+6 c^{2} b+2 b^{2}+3=152 c

Since all terms on the left side are positive, we must have 9c4+6c2b+2b2+3152c9 c^{4}+6 c^{2} b+2 b^{2}+3 \geq 152 c. From 9c4+6c2b+2b2+3152c9 c^{4}+6 c^{2} b+2 b^{2}+3 \geq 152 c and 9c4+6c2b+2b2+3152c9 c^{4}+6 c^{2} b+2 b^{2}+3 \leq 152 c, it follows that c2c \leq 2. Furthermore, 152c152 c is even, as is 6c2b+2b26 c^{2} b+2 b^{2}, so 9c4+39 c^{4}+3 must also be even, which means cc must be odd. Therefore, the only possibility is c=1c=1. Substituting this in, we get

9+6b+2b2+3=152 9+6 b+2 b^{2}+3=152

or

b2+3b70=0 b^{2}+3 b-70=0

This can also be written as (b7)(b+10)=0(b-7)(b+10)=0. So b=7b=7 or b=10b=-10. In the first case, we get a=b+3c2=10a=b+3 c^{2}=10 and thus x=30x=30 and y=21y=21. In the second case, we get a=b+3c2=7a=b+3 c^{2}=-7 and thus x=21x=-21 and y=30y=-30. Checking shows that both pairs satisfy the equation. Therefore, the solutions are (x,y)=(30,21)(x, y)=(30,21) and (x,y)=(21,30)(x, y)=(-21,-30).

Solution 2

We are given the Diophantine equation:
x2+y2+33=456xy x^2 + y^2 + 3^3 = 456\sqrt{x - y}

1. Introduce a new variable:
Let n=xy n = \sqrt{x - y} . Since n n must be an integer, xy x - y must be a perfect square. Thus, we can write:
x=y+n2 x = y + n^2

2. **Substitute x=y+n2 x = y + n^2 into the original equation:**
(y+n2)2+y2+27=456n (y + n^2)^2 + y^2 + 27 = 456n

3. Simplify the equation:
y2+2y(n2)+n4+y2+27=456n y^2 + 2y(n^2) + n^4 + y^2 + 27 = 456n
2y2+2yn2+n4+27=456n 2y^2 + 2yn^2 + n^4 + 27 = 456n

4. Rearrange the equation:
2y2+2yn2+n4456n+27=0 2y^2 + 2yn^2 + n^4 - 456n + 27 = 0

5. Analyze divisibility by 3:
Since 33=27 3^3 = 27 , we have:
3y2+(y+n2)2 3 \mid y^2 + (y + n^2)^2
This implies 3y 3 \mid y and 3y+n2 3 \mid y + n^2 . Therefore, 3n2 3 \mid n^2 , which means 3n 3 \mid n .

6. **Consider the parity of n n :**
Since n n is divisible by 3 and must be odd, we have:
n3(mod6) n \equiv 3 \pmod{6}

7. Express the equation in a different form:
(2y+n2)2=n4+912n54 (2y + n^2)^2 = -n^4 + 912n - 54
Let P(n)=n4+912n54 P(n) = -n^4 + 912n - 54 . For P(n) P(n) to be a perfect square, we need:
n(n3912)54 n(n^3 - 912) \leq -54
This implies:
0<n<10 0 < n < 10

8. **Check possible values of n n :**
Given n3(mod6) n \equiv 3 \pmod{6} , the possible values are n=3 n = 3 and n=9 n = 9 .

9. **Evaluate P(n) P(n) for n=3 n = 3 and n=9 n = 9 :**
P(3)=34+912354=81+273654=2601=512 P(3) = -3^4 + 912 \cdot 3 - 54 = -81 + 2736 - 54 = 2601 = 51^2
P(9)=94+912954=6561+820854=1593 P(9) = -9^4 + 912 \cdot 9 - 54 = -6561 + 8208 - 54 = 1593
Since 1593 1593 is not a perfect square, n=9 n = 9 is not a solution.

10. **Solve for y y when n=3 n = 3 :**
2y+32=±51 2y + 3^2 = \pm 51
2y+9=51or2y+9=51 2y + 9 = 51 \quad \text{or} \quad 2y + 9 = -51
2y=42or2y=60 2y = 42 \quad \text{or} \quad 2y = -60
y=21ory=30 y = 21 \quad \text{or} \quad y = -30

11. **Find corresponding x x values:**
x=y+32 x = y + 3^2
x=21+9=30orx=30+9=21 x = 21 + 9 = 30 \quad \text{or} \quad x = -30 + 9 = -21

Thus, the integer solutions are:
(x,y)=(30,21)and(x,y)=(21,30) (x, y) = (30, 21) \quad \text{and} \quad (x, y) = (-21, -30)

The final answer is (30,21) and (21,30)\boxed{(30, 21) \text{ and } (-21, -30)}

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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.