Integers as solutions!

Integers x , y , z , t x,y,z,t are such that 2 x 4 4 y 4 + 8 z 4 = t 4 2x^4-4y^4+8z^4=t^4

How many different solutions are there?

Note: Reordering the sequence of each solution doesn't count as another solution.


The answer is 1.

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1 solution

Tin Le
Jul 27, 2020

2 x 4 4 y 4 + 8 z 4 = t 4 2x^4 -4y^4+8z^4=t^4

Assume a solution to this is ( x 0 , y 0 , z 0 , t 0 x_0, y_0, z_0, t_0 ). Therefore, we have:

2 x 0 4 4 y 0 4 + 8 z 0 4 = t 0 4 2x_0^4 -4y_0^4+8z_0^4=t_0^4 (1)

2 ( x 0 4 2 y 0 4 + 4 z 0 4 ) = t 0 4 \Leftrightarrow 2(x_0^4 -2y_0^4+4z_0^4)=t_0^4

We can clearly see that t 4 t^4 divides 2, so t 0 t_0 divides 2. Let t 0 = 2 t 1 t_0=2t_1 ( t 1 t_1 is an integer)

2 ( x 0 4 2 y 0 4 + 4 z 0 4 ) = ( 2 t 1 ) 4 = 16 t 1 4 2(x_0^4 -2y_0^4+4z_0^4)=(2t_1)^4=16t_1^4

x 0 4 2 y 0 4 + 4 z 0 4 = 8 t 1 4 \Leftrightarrow x_0^4 -2y_0^4+4z_0^4=8t_1^4

It's obvious that x 0 4 x_0^4 divides 2, so x x divides 2. Let x 0 = 2 x 1 x_0=2x_1 ( x 1 x_1 is an integer)

( 2 x 1 ) 4 2 y 0 4 + 4 z 0 4 = 8 t 1 4 16 x 1 4 2 y 0 4 + 4 z 0 4 = 8 t 1 4 (2x_1)^4 -2y_0^4+4z_0^4=8t_1^4 \Leftrightarrow 16x_1^4 -2y_0^4+4z_0^4=8t_1^4

8 x 1 4 y 0 4 + 2 z 0 4 = 4 t 1 4 \Leftrightarrow 8x_1^4 -y_0^4+2z_0^4=4t_1^4 (Divide each side by 2)

It's clear that y 0 4 y_0^4 divides 2, so y 0 y_0 divides 2. Let y 0 = 2 y 1 y_0=2y_1 ( y 1 y_1 is an integer).

8 x 1 4 ( 2 y 1 ) 4 + 2 z 0 4 = 4 t 1 4 8 x 1 4 16 y 1 4 + 2 z 0 4 = 4 t 1 4 8x_1^4 -(2y_1)^4+2z_0^4=4t_1^4 \Leftrightarrow 8x_1^4 -16y_1^4+2z_0^4=4t_1^4

4 x 1 4 8 y 1 4 + z 0 4 = 2 t 1 4 \Leftrightarrow 4x_1^4 -8y_1^4+z_0^4=2t_1^4 (Divide each side by 2)

Again, z 0 4 z_0^4 divides 2, so z 0 z_0 divides 2. Let z 0 = 2 z 1 z_0=2z_1 ( z 1 z_1 is an integer).

4 x 1 4 8 y 1 4 + ( 2 z 1 ) 4 = 2 t 1 4 4 x 1 4 8 y 1 4 + 16 z 1 4 = 2 t 1 4 4x_1^4 -8y_1^4+(2z_1)^4=2t_1^4 \Leftrightarrow 4x_1^4 -8y_1^4+16z_1^4=2t_1^4

2 x 1 4 4 y 1 4 + 8 z 1 4 = t 1 4 \Leftrightarrow 2x_1^4 -4y_1^4+8z_1^4=t_1^4 (Divide each side by 2) (2).

Comparing (1) and (2), we can conclude that ( x 1 , y 1 , z 1 , t 1 ) = ( x 0 2 , y 0 2 , z 0 2 , t 0 2 ) (x_1,y_1,z_1,t_1) = (\frac{x_0}{2},\frac{y_0}{2},\frac{z_0}{2},\frac{t_0}{2}) is another solution.

However, if we keep letting x n = 2 x n + 1 , y n = 2 y n + 1 , z n = 2 z n + 1 , t n = 2 t n + 1 x_n=2x_{n+1}, y_n=2y_{n+1}, z_n=2z_{n+1}, t_n=2t_{n+1} ( n n is a natural number), we can always conclude that ( x n + 1 , y n + 1 , z n + 1 , t n + 1 ) = ( x n 2 , y n 2 , z n 2 , t n 2 ) = ( x 0 2 n , y 0 2 n , z 0 2 n , t 0 2 n ) (x_{n+1}, y_{n+1},z_{n+1},t_{n+1}) =(\frac{x_n}{2},\frac{y_n}{2},\frac{z_n}{2},\frac{t_n}{2}) = (\frac{x_0}{2^n},\frac{y_0}{2^n},\frac{z_0}{2^n},\frac{t_0}{2^n}) is another solution for the equation.

We can see that x 0 , y 0 , z 0 , t 0 x_0, y_0, z_0, t_0 divides 2 n 2^n for every natural number n n . The only solution satisfying this is ( 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ) (0,0,0,0) (since 0 is the only number that divides an infinite series of numbers).

Therefore, the equation has only 1 \boxed{1} solution, that is ( 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ) (0,0,0,0) .

Did it with the same reasoning, very nice problem👏🏻

Matteo Bianchi - 10 months, 2 weeks ago

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