Find the number of pairs of integer solutions satisfying .
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The 4 solutions to this question are: ( 3 , − 4 ) , ( 4 , − 3 ) , ( − 5 , − 6 ) , ( 6 , 5 )
First, the factor of x 3 − y 3 is ( x − y ) ( x 2 + x y + y 2 )
Next, the factors of 9 1 are 1 ∗ 9 1 9 1 ∗ 1 1 3 ∗ 7 7 ∗ 1 3
Now, assume { x − y = 7 x 2 + x y + y 2 = 1 3 and we will solve it as a system of equations.
x − y − y y = 7 = 7 − x = x − 7
Then
1 3 = x 2 + x y + y 2 1 3 = x 2 + x ( x − 7 ) + ( x − 7 ) 2 1 3 = x 2 + x 2 − 7 x + x 2 − 1 4 x + 4 9 1 3 = 3 x 2 − 2 1 x + 4 9 0 = 3 x 2 − 2 1 x + 3 6 0 = x 2 − 7 x + 1 2 0 = ( x − 3 ) ( x − 4 ) x = 3 ∪ 4
If we plug y in, we should get ( 3 , − 4 ) , ( 4 , − 3 )
WLOG, with { x − y = 1 x 2 + x y + y 2 = 9 1 , we get ( 6 , 5 ) , ( − 5 , − 6 )
For the other 2 equations, we will only get (ir)rational solutions for x and y .
Therefore, there are 4 solutions to this question. ■