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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Find the answer

Suppose a,ba, b, and cc are complex numbers satisfying a2=bcb2=ca, and c2=ab\begin{aligned} a^{2} & =b-c \\ b^{2} & =c-a, \text { and } \\ c^{2} & =a-b \end{aligned} Compute all possible values of a+b+ca+b+c.

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

Solution

Summing the equations gives a2+b2+c2=0a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}=0 and summing aa times the first equation and etc. gives a3+b3+c3=0a^{3}+b^{3}+c^{3}=0. Let a+b+c=ka+b+c=k. Then a2+b2+c2=0a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}=0 means ab+bc+ca=k2/2a b+b c+c a=k^{2} / 2, and a3+b3+c3=03abc=a3+b3+c33abc=(a+b+c)(a2+b2+c2abbcca)=k3/2a^{3}+b^{3}+c^{3}=0 \Longrightarrow-3 a b c=a^{3}+b^{3}+c^{3}-3 a b c=(a+b+c)(a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}-a b-b c-c a)=-k^{3} / 2, so abc=k3/6a b c=k^{3} / 6. This means a,ba, b, and cc are roots of the cubic x3kx2+(k2/2)x(k3/6)=0x^{3}-k x^{2}+(k^{2} / 2) x-(k^{3} / 6)=0 for some kk. Next, note that a4+b4+c4=cyca(ka2(k2/2)a+(k3/6))=cyc k(ka2(k2/2)a+(k3/6))(k2/2)a2+(k3/6)a=cyc (k2/2)a2(k3/3)a+(k4/6)=k4/3+k4/2=k4/6\begin{aligned} a^{4}+b^{4}+c^{4} & =\sum_{\mathrm{cyc}} a(k a^{2}-(k^{2} / 2) a+(k^{3} / 6)) \\ & =\sum_{\text {cyc }} k(k a^{2}-(k^{2} / 2) a+(k^{3} / 6))-(k^{2} / 2) a^{2}+(k^{3} / 6) a \\ & =\sum_{\text {cyc }}(k^{2} / 2) a^{2}-(k^{3} / 3) a+(k^{4} / 6) \\ & =-k^{4} / 3+k^{4} / 2 \\ & =k^{4} / 6 \end{aligned} After this, there are two ways to extract the values of kk. - Summing squares of each equation gives a4+b4+c4=cyc(ab)2=2(a2+b2+c2)2(ab+bc+ca)=k2a^{4}+b^{4}+c^{4}=\sum_{\mathrm{cyc}}(a-b)^{2}=2(a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2})-2(a b+b c+c a)=-k^{2} so k46=k2k=0,±i6\frac{k^{4}}{6}=-k^{2} \Longrightarrow k=0, \pm i \sqrt{6} - Summing a2a^{2} times the first equation, etc. gives a4+b4+c4=cyca2(bc)=(ab)(bc)(ca)=a2b2c2=k636a^{4}+b^{4}+c^{4}=\sum_{\mathrm{cyc}} a^{2}(b-c)=-(a-b)(b-c)(c-a)=-a^{2} b^{2} c^{2}=-\frac{k^{6}}{36} so k46=k636k=0,±i6\frac{k^{4}}{6}=-\frac{k^{6}}{36} \Longrightarrow k=0, \pm i \sqrt{6} We can achieve k=0k=0 with a=b=c=0a=b=c=0. Letting a,ba, b, and cc be the roots of x3(i6)x23x+(i6)x^{3}-(i \sqrt{6}) x^{2}-3 x+(i \sqrt{6}) will force one of a2=bca^{2}=b-c and all other equalities or a2cba^{2}-c-b and all other equalities to hold, if the latter happens, swap bb and cc. Finally, for these (a,b,c)(a, b, c), take (a,c,b)(-a,-c,-b) to get i6-i \sqrt{6}. Thus, all of these are achievable.

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