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Number theory Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Find the answer

Find all positive integers a,b,ca, b, c such that ab+1ab + 1, bc+1bc + 1, and ca+1ca + 1 are all equal to
factorials of some positive integers.

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

Solution

Given the problem, we need to find all positive integers a,b,ca, b, c such that each of the expressions ab+1 ab + 1 , bc+1 bc + 1 , and ca+1 ca + 1 are factorials of positive integers. Let's denote these factorials as follows:

ab+1=x! ab + 1 = x!
bc+1=y! bc + 1 = y!
ca+1=z! ca + 1 = z!

where x,y,zx, y, z are positive integers.

Since ab+1 ab + 1 , bc+1 bc + 1 , and ca+1 ca + 1 are all factorials, we can infer:

ab=x!1 ab = x! - 1
bc=y!1 bc = y! - 1
ca=z!1 ca = z! - 1

Without loss of generality, we begin by exploring simple cases. Consider the scenario where at least one of bb or cc is 1. Assume b=1b = 1. This simplifies our equations to:

a(1)+1=x!    a=x!1 a(1) + 1 = x! \implies a = x! - 1
1c+1=z!    c=z!1 1c + 1 = z! \implies c = z! - 1

For the second equation:
ca+1=z! ca + 1 = z!
Substitute a=x!1a = x! - 1 into the equation:
(z!1)(x!1)+1=y! (z! - 1)(x! - 1) + 1 = y!

Given that a,b,ca, b, c are permutations, we can further explore the symmetrical nature by setting b=1b = 1 and c=1c = 1, or a=1a = 1 and c=1c = 1, to find viable solutions.

Exploring these equations, assume b=1b = 1 and c=1c = 1:

For ab+1=x!ab + 1 = x!, we have:
a(1)+1=x!    a=x!1 a(1) + 1 = x! \implies a = x! - 1
and for bc+1=y!bc + 1 = y!:
1(1)+1=2=y! if y=2 1(1) + 1 = 2 = y!\text{ if }y = 2

Thus, b=1b = 1, c=1c = 1, a=k!1a = k! - 1, where kk is a positive integer such that k>1k > 1, satisfies the conditions. With these, all the expressions are valid factorials:

- ab+1=(k!1)1+1=k!ab + 1 = (k! - 1) \cdot 1 + 1 = k!
- bc+1=11+1=2 ⁣,bc + 1 = 1 \cdot 1 + 1 = 2\!, for y=2y=2
- ca+1=1(k!1)+1=k!ca + 1 = 1 \cdot (k! - 1) + 1 = k!

Therefore, the solution is:

(k!1,1,1) (and its permutations), where kN>1 \boxed{(k! - 1, 1, 1)} \text{ (and its permutations), where } k \in \mathbb{N}_{>1}

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