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Indija mo 2011

India 2011 number theory

Problem

Find three distinct positive integers with the least possible sum such that the sum of the reciprocals of any two integers among them is an integral multiple of the reciprocal of the third integer.
Solution
We first observe that is not a solution whenever . Otherwise we should have for some integer . Hence we obtain showing that and . But then contradicting . Thus the least number should be . It is easy to verify that and are not solutions and satisfies all the conditions. (We may observe is also not a solution.) Since , it follows that has the required minimality.
Final answer
(2, 3, 6)

Techniques

Techniques: modulo, size analysis, order analysis, inequalitiesFactorization techniques