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Number theory Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Find the answer

A four-digit positive integer is called virtual if it has the form abab\overline{abab}, where aa and bb are digits and a0a \neq 0. For example 2020, 2121 and 2222 are virtual numbers, while 2002 and 0202 are not. Find all virtual numbers of the form n2+1n^2+1, for some positive integer nn.

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

Solution

To solve the problem of finding all virtual numbers of the form n2+1 n^2 + 1 , we need to express a virtual number in the required form and establish conditions for n n .

A virtual number abab\overline{abab} can be expressed mathematically as:
101a+10b+10a+b=110a+11b. 101a + 10b + 10a + b = 110a + 11b.
We are tasked with finding n n such that:
n2+1=110a+11b. n^2 + 1 = 110a + 11b.

To proceed, consider the behavior of n2 n^2 modulo 11, since the expression 11b 11b indicates periodic properties associated with modulo calculations. We have:
n21(mod11). n^2 \equiv -1 \pmod{11}.

Checking possible values of n2(mod11) n^2 \pmod{11} for n=0,1,2,,10 n = 0, 1, 2, \ldots, 10 since these are all the residues mod 11:
- n2020(mod11) n^2 \equiv 0^2 \equiv 0 \pmod{11} ,
- n2121(mod11) n^2 \equiv 1^2 \equiv 1 \pmod{11} ,
- n2224(mod11) n^2 \equiv 2^2 \equiv 4 \pmod{11} ,
- n2329(mod11) n^2 \equiv 3^2 \equiv 9 \pmod{11} ,
- n2425(mod11) n^2 \equiv 4^2 \equiv 5 \pmod{11} ,
- n2523(mod11) n^2 \equiv 5^2 \equiv 3 \pmod{11} ,
- n2623(mod11) n^2 \equiv 6^2 \equiv 3 \pmod{11} ,
- n2725(mod11) n^2 \equiv 7^2 \equiv 5 \pmod{11} ,
- n2829(mod11) n^2 \equiv 8^2 \equiv 9 \pmod{11} ,
- n2924(mod11) n^2 \equiv 9^2 \equiv 4 \pmod{11} ,
- n21021(mod11) n^2 \equiv 10^2 \equiv 1 \pmod{11} .

Therefore, none of these congruences satisfy n2110(mod11) n^2 \equiv -1 \equiv 10 \pmod{11} . Hence, we must search for values of n n that enable n2110a+11b1 n^2 \equiv 110a + 11b - 1 .

Supposed n=91 n = 91 :
n2+1=8282. n^2 + 1 = 8282.
Check:
- a=8 a = 8 and b=2 b = 2 ,
- abab=8282\overline{abab} = 8282.

Thus, the virtual number of the form n2+1 n^2 + 1 is indeed:
8282. \boxed{8282}.
This confirms that n=91 n = 91 and no other n n within reasonable bounds yields such a result.

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