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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let x,yx, y be complex numbers such that \frac{x^{2}+y^{2}}{x+y}=4andx4+y4x3+y3=2 and \frac{x^{4}+y^{4}}{x^{3}+y^{3}}=2. Find all possible values of \frac{x^{6}+y^{6}}{x^{5}+y^{5}}$.

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

Solution

Let A=1x+1yA=\frac{1}{x}+\frac{1}{y} and let B=xy+yxB=\frac{x}{y}+\frac{y}{x}. Then BA=x2+y2x+y=4 \frac{B}{A}=\frac{x^{2}+y^{2}}{x+y}=4 so B=4AB=4 A. Next, note that B22=x4+y4x2y2 and ABA=x3+y3x2y2 B^{2}-2=\frac{x^{4}+y^{4}}{x^{2} y^{2}} \text { and } A B-A=\frac{x^{3}+y^{3}}{x^{2} y^{2}} so B22ABA=2 \frac{B^{2}-2}{A B-A}=2 Substituting B=4AB=4 A and simplifying, we find that 4A2+A1=04 A^{2}+A-1=0, so A=1±178A=\frac{-1 \pm \sqrt{17}}{8}. Finally, note that 64A312A=B33B=x6+y6x3y3 and 16A34A2A=A(B22)(ABA)=x5+y5x3y3 64 A^{3}-12 A=B^{3}-3 B=\frac{x^{6}+y^{6}}{x^{3} y^{3}} \text { and } 16 A^{3}-4 A^{2}-A=A\left(B^{2}-2\right)-(A B-A)=\frac{x^{5}+y^{5}}{x^{3} y^{3}} x6+y6x5+y5=64A21216A24A1=416A38A \frac{x^{6}+y^{6}}{x^{5}+y^{5}}=\frac{64 A^{2}-12}{16 A^{2}-4 A-1}=\frac{4-16 A}{3-8 A} where the last inequality follows from the fact that 4A2=1A4 A^{2}=1-A. If A=1+178A=\frac{-1+\sqrt{17}}{8}, then this value equals 10+21710+2 \sqrt{17}. Similarly, if A=1178A=\frac{-1-\sqrt{17}}{8}, then this value equals 1021710-2 \sqrt{17}. (It is not hard to see that these values are achievable by noting that with the values of AA and BB we can solve for x+yx+y and xyx y, and thus for xx and yy.)

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