Number theoryDifficulty 5.0AIME, harderFind the answer
Determine all pairs (a,b) of positive integers for which
a2+b∣a2b+a and b2−a∣ab2+b.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
From a2+b∣a2b+a it follows
a2+b∣(a2b+a)−b(a2+b)=a−b2
From b2−a∣ab2+b it follows
b2−a∣(ab2+b)−a(b2−a)=b+a2.
We see that a2+ba−b2a2+b. This means that a2+b is equal to a−b2 up to a sign. Therefore, we have two cases: a2+b=b2−a and a2+b=a−b2. In the second case, a2+b2=a−b. But a2≥a and b2≥b>−b, so this is impossible. Therefore, we must have the first case: a2+b=b2−a. This gives a2−b2=−a−b, so (a+b)(a−b)=−(a+b). Since a+b is positive, we can divide by it and get a−b=−1, so b=a+1. All pairs that can satisfy the conditions are thus of the form (a,a+1) for a positive integer a. We check these pairs. We have a2+b=a2+a+1 and a2b+a=a2(a+1)+a=a3+a2+a=a(a2+a+1), so the first divisibility relation is satisfied. Furthermore, b2−a=(a+1)2−a=a2+a+1 and ab2+b=a(a+1)2+(a+1)=a3+2a2+2a+1=a(a2+a+1)+a2+a+1=(a+1)(a2+a+1), so the second divisibility relation is also satisfied. The pairs (a,a+1) thus satisfy the conditions and are therefore the exact solutions.
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