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51st Ukrainian National Mathematical Olympiad, 3rd Round

Ukraine number theory

Problem

Find all pairs of natural numbers and , such that the difference is and the product is a complete square.
Solution
Since and is prime, then is or .

1 Case. If then , , and we have or Solving this system we get the answer.

2 Case. If , then , , where . We have , hence . We have , or , which is impossible.
Final answer
(a, b) = (1006^2, 1005^2)

Techniques

Greatest common divisors (gcd)Prime numbersFactorization techniques