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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME Find the answer

Find all ordered pairs (a,b)(a,b) of positive integers for which the numbers a3b1a+1\dfrac{a^3b-1}{a+1} and b3a+1b1\dfrac{b^3a+1}{b-1} are both positive integers

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

Solution

Adding 11 to both the given numbers we get:
a3b1a+1+1\dfrac{a^3b-1}{a+1} + 1 is also a positive integer so we have:
a3b+aa+1\dfrac{a^3b+a}{a+1} = a(a2b+1)a+1\dfrac{a(a^2b+1)}{a+1} is a positive integer
    (a+1)(a2b+1)\implies (a+1) \mid (a^2b+1)     (a+1)(((a+1)1)2b+1)\implies (a+1) \mid (((a+1) - 1)^2b+1)     (a+1)(b+1)\implies (a+1) \mid (b+1)
Similarly,
b3a+1b1+1\dfrac{b^3a+1}{b-1} + 1 is also a positive integer so we have:
b3a+bb1\dfrac{b^3a+b}{b-1} = b(b2a+1)b1\dfrac{b(b^2a+1)}{b-1} is a positive integer
    (b1)(b2a+1)\implies (b-1) | (b^2a+1)     (b1)(((b1)+1)2a+1)\implies (b-1) | (((b-1) + 1)^2a+1)     (b1)(a+1)\implies (b-1) | (a+1)
Combining above 22 results we get:
(b1)(b+1)(b-1) | (b+1)
    b=2,3\implies b=2,3
Case1:b=2Case 1: b=2     a+13    a=2\implies a+1|3 \implies a=2 which is a valid solution.
Case2:b=3Case 2: b=3     a+14    a=1,3\implies a+1|4 \implies a=1,3 which are valid solutions.
Thus, all solutions are: (2,2),(1,3),(3,3)(2,2), (1,3), (3,3)
Kris17Kris17

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