Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /9 of 30

Number theory Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Find the answer

Find all prime numbers pp and nonnegative integers xyx\neq y such that x4y4=p(x3y3)x^4- y^4=p(x^3-y^3).

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

Solution

To find all prime numbers p p and nonnegative integers xy x \neq y satisfying the equation:

x4y4=p(x3y3), x^4 - y^4 = p(x^3 - y^3),

we start by factoring the equation on both sides. Notice that:

x4y4=(x2y2)(x2+y2)=(xy)(x+y)(x2+y2), x^4 - y^4 = (x^2 - y^2)(x^2 + y^2) = (x-y)(x+y)(x^2 + y^2),

and

x3y3=(xy)(x2+xy+y2). x^3 - y^3 = (x-y)(x^2 + xy + y^2).

Substituting these factorizations into the given equation, we obtain:

(xy)(x+y)(x2+y2)=p(xy)(x2+xy+y2). (x-y)(x+y)(x^2 + y^2) = p(x-y)(x^2 + xy + y^2).

Assuming xy x \neq y , divide both sides by xy x-y (since xy0 x-y \neq 0 ):

(x+y)(x2+y2)=p(x2+xy+y2). (x+y)(x^2 + y^2) = p(x^2 + xy + y^2).

Re-arrange the equation to:

x3+xy2+x2y+y3=px2+pxy+py2. x^3 + xy^2 + x^2y + y^3 = px^2 + pxy + py^2.

This simplifies to:

x3+xy2+x2y+y3=px2+pxy+py2. x^3 + xy^2 + x^2y + y^3 = px^2 + pxy + py^2.

Next, rearrange terms:

x3+xy2+x2y+y3px2pxypy2=0, x^3 + xy^2 + x^2y + y^3 - px^2 - pxy - py^2 = 0,

or

x3+y3+xy2+x2ypx2py2pxy=0. x^3 + y^3 + xy^2 + x^2y - px^2 - py^2 - pxy = 0.

Assume x=p x = p and y=0 y = 0 , checking these values in the original equation gives:

p404=p(p303), p^4 - 0^4 = p(p^3 - 0^3),

This simplifies to:

p4=pp3, p^4 = p \cdot p^3,

which is always true.

Similarly, setting y=p y = p and x=0 x = 0 gives:

04p4=p(03p3), 0^4 - p^4 = p(0^3 - p^3),

or

p4=pp3, -p^4 = -p \cdot p^3,

which simplifies to:

p4=pp3, p^4 = p \cdot p^3,

which is also true.

Thus, the only solutions are (p,x,y)=(p,p,0) (p, x, y) = (p, p, 0) and (p,x,y)=(p,0,p) (p, x, y) = (p, 0, p) for any prime p p .

The solution set is:

{(p,p,0),(p,0,p)} \boxed{\{ (p, p, 0), (p, 0, p) \}}

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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