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Number theory Difficulty 6.8 National olympiad Find the answer

Are there any triples (a,b,c)(a,b,c) of positive integers such that (a2)(b2)(c2)+12(a-2)(b-2)(c-2) + 12 is prime that properly divides the positive number a2+b2+c2+abc2017a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + abc - 2017 ?

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

Solution

The answer is no. Substitute x=a2,y=b2,z=c2x=a-2,y=b-2,z=c-2 . This means that x,y,z1x,y,z\geq -1 . Then a2+b2+c2+abc2017=(x+y+z41)(x+y+z+49)+xyz+12.a^2+b^2+c^2+abc-2017=(x+y+z-41)(x+y+z+49)+xyz+12. It is given in the problem that this is positive. Now, suppose for the sake of contradiction that xyz+12xyz+12 is a prime. Clearly x,y,z0x,y,z\neq 0 . Then we have (x+y+z41)(x+y+z+49)xyz+12\frac{(x+y+z-41)(x+y+z+49)}{xyz+12} is an integer greater than or equal to 11 . This also implies that x+y+z>41x+y+z > 41 . Since xyz+12xyz+12 is prime, we must have xyz+12x+y+z41 or xyz+12x+y+z+49.xyz+12\mid x+y+z-41\text{ or } xyz+12\mid x+y+z+49. Additionally, x,y,zx, y, z must be odd, so that xyz+12xyz+12 is odd while x+y+z41,x+y+z+49x+y+z-41,x+y+z+49 are even. So, if xyz+12x+y+z41 or xyz+12x+y+z+49,xyz+12\mid x+y+z-41\text{ or }xyz+12\mid x+y+z+49, we must have 2(xyz+12)x+y+z41 or 2(xyz+12)x+y+z+49.2(xyz+12)\leq x+y+z-41\text{ or }2(xyz+12)\leq x+y+z+49. Now suppose WLOG that x=1x=-1 and y,z>0y,z>0 . Then we must have yz10yz\leq 10 , impossible since x+y+z>41x+y+z>41 . Again, suppose that x,y=1x,y=-1 and z>0z>0 . Then we must have 2(z+12)z43 or 2(z+12)z+47,2(z+12)\leq z-43\text{ or }2(z+12)\leq z+47, and since in this case we must have z>43z>43 , this is also impossible.
Then the final case is when x,y,zx,y,z are positive odd numbers. Note that if xyz>x+y+zxyz>x+y+z for positive integers x,y,zx,y,z , then abc>a+b+cabc>a+b+c for positive integers a,b,ca,b,c where a>x,b>y,c>za>x,b>y,c>z . Then we only need to prove the case where x+y+z=43x+y+z=43 , since x+y+zx+y+z is odd. Then one of 2(xyz+12)2 and/or 2(xyz+12)922(xyz+12)\leq 2\text{ and/or }2(xyz+12)\leq 92 is true, implying that xyz11xyz\leq -11 or xyz34xyz\leq 34 . But if x+y+z=43x+y+z=43 , then xyzxyz is minimized when x=1,y=1,z=41x=1,y=1,z=41 , so that xyz41xyz\geq 41 . This is a contradiction, so we are done.

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