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Number theory Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Find the answer

Determine all integral solutions of a2+b2+c2=a2b2a^2+b^2+c^2=a^2b^2 .

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

Solution

Either a2=0a^2=0 or a2>0a^2>0 . If a2=0a^2=0 , then b2=c2=0b^2=c^2=0 . Symmetry applies for bb as well. If a2,b20a^2,b^2\neq 0 , then c20c^2\neq 0 . Now we look at a2mod4a^2\bmod{4} :
a20mod4a^2\equiv 0\bmod{4} : Since a square is either 1 or 0 mod 4, then all the other squares are 0 mod 4. Let a=2a1a=2a_1 , b=2b1b=2b_1 , and c=2c1c=2c_1 . Thus a12+b12+c12=4a12b12a_1^2+b_1^2+c_1^2=4a_1^2b_1^2 . Since the LHS is divisible by four, all the variables are divisible by 4, and we must do this over and over again, and from infinite descent, there are no non-zero solutions when a20mod4a^2\equiv 0\bmod{4} .
a21mod4a^2\equiv 1\bmod{4} : Since b20mod4b^2\neq 0\bmod{4} , b21mod4b^2\equiv 1\bmod{4} , and 2+c21mod42+c^2\equiv 1\bmod{4} . But for this to be true, c23mod4c^2\equiv 3\bmod{4} , which is an impossibility. Thus there are no non-zero solutions when a21mod4a^2\equiv 1\bmod{4} .
Thus the only solution is the solution above: (a,b,c)=0(a,b,c)=0 .

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