Generalized Problem

I generalized a problem I saw on brilliant.

Let a a be a prime number.

In general find the largest positive integer x x such that x 2 + a 2 x x^2 + a^2 x is a square number, then using a = 7919 a = 7919 find x x .


The answer is 983153583878400.

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1 solution

Rocco Dalto
Dec 7, 2017

In general:

Let a a be a prime number.

Find largest positive integer x x such that x 2 + a 2 x = j 2 x^2 + a^2 x = j^2 , where j j is a positive integer.

x 2 + a 2 x = j 2 ( 2 x + a 2 ) 2 a 4 = ( 2 j ) 2 ( 2 x + a 2 ) 2 ( 2 j ) 2 = a 4 ( 2 x 2 j + a 2 ) ( 2 x + 2 j + a 2 ) = a 4 x^2 + a^2 x = j^2 \implies (2x + a^2)^2 - a^4 = (2j)^2 \implies (2x + a^2)^2 - (2j)^2 = a^4 \implies (2x - 2j + a^2) (2x + 2j + a^2) = a^4

2 x + 2 j = a 4 a 2 2x + 2j = a^4 - a^2

2 x 2 j = 1 a 2 2x - 2j = 1 - a^2

x = ( a 2 1 2 ) 2 = k 2 N \implies x = (\dfrac{a^2 - 1}{2})^2 = k^2 \in \mathbb{N} and j = ( a 1 ) ( a 3 + a 2 + 1 ) 4 = m l N j = \dfrac{(a - 1)(a^3 + a^2 + 1)}{4} = m * l \in \mathbb{N}

2 x + 2 j = a 3 a 2 2x + 2j = a^3 - a^2

2 x 2 j = a a 2 2x - 2j = a - a^2

x = a ( a 1 2 ) 2 = 2 h n 2 N \implies x = a (\dfrac{a - 1}{2})^2 = 2 h n^2 \in \mathbb{N} and j = a ( a 2 1 2 ) 2 = 2 q s 2 N j = a (\dfrac{a^2 - 1}{2})^2 = 2 q s^2 \in \mathbb{N}

2 x + 2 j = 0 2x + 2j = 0

2 x 2 j = 0 2x - 2j = 0

x = j = 0 \implies x = j = 0 clearly x = 0 x m a x . x = 0 \neq x_{max}.

For a > 1 a > 1

( a 2 1 ) 2 a ( a 1 ) 2 = ( a 1 ) 2 ( a + 1 ) 2 a ( a 1 ) 2 = ( a 1 ) 2 ( a 2 + a + 1 ) > 0 ( a 2 1 ) 2 > a ( a 1 ) 2 (a^2 - 1)^2 - a(a - 1)^2 = (a - 1)^2 (a + 1)^2 - a (a - 1)^2 = (a - 1)^2 (a^2 + a + 1) > 0 \implies (a^2 - 1)^2 > a(a - 1)^2 \implies ( a 2 1 2 ) 2 > a ( a 1 2 ) 2 (\dfrac{a^2 - 1}{2})^2 > a (\dfrac{a - 1}{2})^2

x = x m a x = ( a 2 1 2 ) 2 \therefore x = x_{max} = (\dfrac{a^2 - 1}{2})^2

Using a = 7919 x m a x = 983153583878400 a = 7919 \implies x_{max} = \boxed{983153583878400} .

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