RMO is insane

Find the sum of all positive integers n n such that 3 2 n + 3 n 2 + 7 3^{2n} + 3n^2 + 7 is a perfect square.


The answer is 2.

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1 solution

Julian Yu
Dec 3, 2018

For n = 1 n=1 , 9 + 3 + 7 = 19 9+3+7=19 is not a perfect square. For n = 2 n=2 , 81 + 12 + 7 = 100 81+12+7=100 is a perfect square.

For n > 2 n>2 , we find that 3 n 2 + 7 < 2 3 n + 1 3n^2+7<2\cdot 3^n+1

3 2 n + 3 n 2 + 7 < 3 2 n + 2 3 n + 1 \implies 3^{2n}+3n^2+7<3^{2n}+2\cdot 3^n+1

3 2 n + 3 n 2 + 7 < ( 3 n + 1 ) 2 \implies 3^{2n}+3n^2+7<(3^n+1)^2

However, ( 3 n ) 2 < 3 2 n + 3 n 2 + 7 (3^n)^2<3^{2n}+3n^2+7 . This means that for n > 2 n>2 , 3 2 n + 3 n 2 + 7 3^{2n}+3n^2+7 is strictly between two consecutive perfect squares, so it cannot be a square itself.

Hence the only solution is n = 2 n=\boxed{2} .

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