Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 235 of 400 #1235 of 1964

Problem 1235

National olympiad, first round
Number theory Difficulty 6.4 Find the answer

Find all triplets of positive rational numbers (m,n,p)(m,n,p) such that the numbers m+1npm+\frac 1{np}, n+1pmn+\frac 1{pm}, p+1mnp+\frac 1{mn} are integers.

[i]Valentin Vornicu, Romania[/i]

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

Official solution

1. Let m,n,p m, n, p be positive rational numbers. Define t=mnp t = mnp . We are given that m+1np m + \frac{1}{np} , n+1pm n + \frac{1}{pm} , and p+1mn p + \frac{1}{mn} are integers. Let's denote these integers by a,b, a, b, and c c respectively. Thus, we have:
a=m+1np,b=n+1pm,c=p+1mn a = m + \frac{1}{np}, \quad b = n + \frac{1}{pm}, \quad c = p + \frac{1}{mn}

2. Multiply all three equations together:
(m+1np)(n+1pm)(p+1mn)=abc \left(m + \frac{1}{np}\right)\left(n + \frac{1}{pm}\right)\left(p + \frac{1}{mn}\right) = abc
Substituting t=mnp t = mnp , we get:
(m+1np)(n+1pm)(p+1mn)=(m+1np)(n+1pm)(p+1mn)=mnp(1+1mnp)3=t(1+1t)3 \left(m + \frac{1}{np}\right)\left(n + \frac{1}{pm}\right)\left(p + \frac{1}{mn}\right) = \left(m + \frac{1}{np}\right)\left(n + \frac{1}{pm}\right)\left(p + \frac{1}{mn}\right) = mnp \left(1 + \frac{1}{mnp}\right)^3 = t \left(1 + \frac{1}{t}\right)^3
Simplifying the right-hand side:
t(1+1t)3=t(t+1t)3=t(t+1)3t3=(t+1)3t2 t \left(1 + \frac{1}{t}\right)^3 = t \left(\frac{t+1}{t}\right)^3 = t \cdot \frac{(t+1)^3}{t^3} = \frac{(t+1)^3}{t^2}
Therefore:
abc=(t+1)3t2 abc = \frac{(t+1)^3}{t^2}

3. Since abc abc is an integer, (t+1)3t2\frac{(t+1)^3}{t^2} must also be an integer. This implies that t t must be an integer because t t is a rational number and t t must divide (t+1)3(t+1)^3.

4. The greatest common divisor of t t and t+1 t+1 is 1, i.e., gcd(t,t+1)=1\gcd(t, t+1) = 1. Therefore, t t must be 1 because if t t were greater than 1, some prime would divide the denominator but not the numerator.

5. Thus, t=1 t = 1 . Substituting t=1 t = 1 back into the equations, we get:
mnp=1 mnp = 1
and the integers a,b, a, b, and c c become:
a=m+1np=m+11m=2m a = m + \frac{1}{np} = m + \frac{1}{\frac{1}{m}} = 2m
b=n+1pm=n+11n=2n b = n + \frac{1}{pm} = n + \frac{1}{\frac{1}{n}} = 2n
c=p+1mn=p+11p=2p c = p + \frac{1}{mn} = p + \frac{1}{\frac{1}{p}} = 2p

6. Since 2m,2n,2p 2m, 2n, 2p are integers and their product is:
8mnp=81=8 8mnp = 8 \cdot 1 = 8
We need to find the integer solutions to:
2m2n2p=8 2m \cdot 2n \cdot 2p = 8
The possible sets of integers {2m,2n,2p}\{2m, 2n, 2p\} that satisfy this equation are:
{1,1,8},{1,2,4},{2,2,2} \{1, 1, 8\}, \{1, 2, 4\}, \{2, 2, 2\}

7. Therefore, the corresponding rational solutions (m,n,p)(m, n, p) are:
(m,n,p)=(12,12,4),(12,1,2),(1,1,1) (m, n, p) = \left(\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}, 4\right), \left(\frac{1}{2}, 1, 2\right), (1, 1, 1)
and their permutations.

The final answer is (12,12,4),(12,1,2),(1,1,1)\boxed{\left(\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}, 4\right), \left(\frac{1}{2}, 1, 2\right), (1, 1, 1)} and permutations.

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