Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 4 / 119 of 340 #379 of 1964

Problem 379

AMC 12 late, AIME early
Number theory Difficulty 4.8 Find the answer

Find all integers nn such that 4n4+14 n^{4}+1 is a prime number.

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

Official solution

By the Sophie-Germain identity:

1+4n4=(12n+2n2)(1+2n+2n2)1+4 n^{4}=\left(1-2 n+2 n^{2}\right)\left(1+2 n+2 n^{2}\right) Therefore, it is necessary that 12n+2n2=11-2 n+2 n^{2}=1, so n=1n=1.

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