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Geometry Difficulty 7.8 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Determine all positive integers NN for which the sphere
x2+y2+z2=Nx^2 + y^2 + z^2 = N
has an inscribed regular tetrahedron whose vertices have integer coordinates.

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

Solution

The integers NN with this property are those of the form 3m23m^2 for some positive integer mm.

In one direction, for N=3m2N = 3m^2, the points
(m,m,m),(m,m,m),(m,m,m),(m,m,m) (m,m,m), (m,-m,-m), (-m,m,-m), (-m,-m,m)
form the vertices of a regular tetrahedron inscribed in the sphere x2+y2+z2=Nx^2 + y^2 + z^2 = N.

Conversely, suppose that Pi=(xi,yi,zi)P_i = (x_i, y_i, z_i) for i=1,,4i=1,\dots,4 are the vertices of an inscribed regular
tetrahedron. Then the center of this tetrahedron must equal the center of the sphere, namely (0,0,0)(0,0,0). Consequently, these four vertices together with Qi=(xi,yi,zi)Q_i = (-x_i, -y_i, -z_i) for i=1,,4i=1,\dots,4 form the vertices of an inscribed cube in the sphere.
The side length of this cube is (N/3)1/2(N/3)^{1/2}, so its volume is (N/3)3/2(N/3)^{3/2};
on the other hand, this volume also equals the determinant of the matrix
with row vectors Q2Q1,Q3Q1,Q4Q1Q_2-Q_1, Q_3-Q_1, Q_4-Q_1, which is an integer. Hence (N/3)3(N/3)^3 is a perfect square, as then is N/3N/3.

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