Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 5 / 179 of 400 #779 of 1964

Problem 779

AIME late
Number theory Difficulty 5.4 Find the answer

Example 4 Let x,y,zx, y, z be distinct positive integers, and xyz(xy1)(yz1)(zx1)x y z \mid (x y - 1)(y z - 1)(z x - 1).
Find all values of x,y,zx, y, z.
(2013, Joint Autonomous Admission Examination of Tsinghua University and Other Schools)

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

Official solution

Notice,
(xy1)(yz1)(zx1)=x2y2z2(x+y+z)xyz+xy+yz+zx1. \begin{array}{l} (x y-1)(y z-1)(z x-1) \\ =x^{2} y^{2} z^{2}-(x+y+z) x y z+x y+y z+z x-1 . \end{array}

The problem is equivalent to finding distinct positive integers x,y,zx, y, z such that xyz(xy+yz+zx1)x y z \mid (x y + y z + z x - 1).
Assume without loss of generality that x>y>zx > y > z.
Then xyzxy+yz+zx1x y z \leq x y + y z + z x - 1. If z=1z = 1, then xyxy+y+x1x y \leq x y + y + x - 1, which is a contradiction since yy is a positive integer.
 (2) When z=22xy(xy+2y+2x1)2xyxy+2y+2x1xy2y+2x1. \begin{array}{l} \text { (2) When } z=2 \text {, } \\ 2 x y \mid(x y+2 y+2 x-1) \\ \Rightarrow 2 x y \leq x y+2 y+2 x-1 \\ \Rightarrow x y \leq 2 y + 2 x - 1. \end{array}
Since z=2z=2, we know y=3y=3.
Thus, 6x(5x+5)6x5x+5x56 x \mid (5 x + 5) \Rightarrow 6 x \leq 5 x + 5 \Rightarrow x \leq 5.
Combining x>y=3x > y = 3, we know x=4,5x = 4, 5.
Upon inspection, x=5x = 5 satisfies the condition.
Therefore, the positive integer solutions (x,y,z)(x, y, z) that satisfy the condition are (2,3,5)(2, 3, 5) and their permutations.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.