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Problem 1391

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Number theory Difficulty 5.7 Prove it The 16th Japanese Mathematical Olympiad - The Final Round · Japan

Find every integer kk that satisfies the following condition.
There are infinitely many triplet (a,b,c)(a, b, c) of integers such that (a2k)(b2k)=c2k(a^2 - k)(b^2 - k) = c^2 - k.

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Official solution

Consider an arbitrary integer kk. Take a complex number α\alpha that meets α2=k\alpha^2 = k. (For example, let α=k\alpha = \sqrt{k} if kk is nonnegative, and α=ik\alpha = i\sqrt{-k} if kk negative.)
It is easy verify the following equalities:
(n+α)(n+1α)=((n(n+1)k)+α),(nα)(n+1+α)=((n(n+1)k)α). (n + \alpha)(n + 1 - \alpha) = ((n(n + 1) - k) + \alpha), \\ (n - \alpha)(n + 1 + \alpha) = ((n(n + 1) - k) - \alpha).
By multiplying these two formulae, we obtain an identity,
(n2k)((n+1)2k)=((n(n+1)k)2k). (n^2 - k)((n + 1)^2 - k) = ((n(n + 1) - k)^2 - k).
In consequence, for any kk, we can pick up any nn and let (a,b,c)=(n,n+1,n(n+1)k)(a, b, c) = (n, n + 1, n(n + 1) - k) so that the required equality holds. There are infinitely many nn and hence (a,b,c)(a, b, c). Therefore, every integer kk meets the required condition.

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