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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Find the answer

Determine the number of pairs of integers (m,n)(m, n) such that

n+2016+m2016Q \sqrt{n+\sqrt{2016}}+\sqrt{m-\sqrt{2016}} \in \mathbb{Q}

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

Solution

Let r=n+2016+m2016r=\sqrt{n+\sqrt{2016}}+\sqrt{m-\sqrt{2016}}. Then

n+m+2n+2016m2016=r2 n+m+2 \sqrt{n+\sqrt{2016}} \cdot \sqrt{m-\sqrt{2016}}=r^{2}

and

(mn)2106=14(r2mn)2mn+2016Q (m-n) \sqrt{2106}=\frac{1}{4}\left(r^{2}-m-n\right)^{2}-m n+2016 \in \mathbb{Q}

Since 2016Q\sqrt{2016} \notin \mathbb{Q}, it follows that m=nm=n. Then

n22016=12(r22n)Q \sqrt{n^{2}-2016}=\frac{1}{2}\left(r^{2}-2 n\right) \in \mathbb{Q}

Hence, there is some nonnegative integer pp such that n22016=p2n^{2}-2016=p^{2} and (1) becomes 2n+2p=r22 n+2 p=r^{2}.

It follows that 2(n+p)=r22(n+p)=r^{2} is the square of a rational and also an integer, hence a perfect square. On the other hand, 2016=(np)(n+p)2016=(n-p)(n+p) and n+pn+p is a divisor of 2016, larger than 2016\sqrt{2016}. Since n+pn+p is even, so is also npn-p, and r2=2(n+p)r^{2}=2(n+p) is a divisor of 2016=253272016=2^{5} \cdot 3^{2} \cdot 7, larger than 22016>882 \sqrt{2016}>88. The only possibility is r2=2432=122r^{2}=2^{4} \cdot 3^{2}=12^{2}. Hence, n+p=72n+p=72 and np=28n-p=28, and we conclude that n=m=50n=m=50. Thus, there is only one such pair.

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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.