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Saudi Arabia number theory
Problem
Find all integers for which is a perfect square.
Solution
Let for some integer .
We can write: This is a quadratic in : The discriminant must be a perfect square for to be integer: for some integer .
So: Let be a positive divisor of , and set: Then: Now, is given by the quadratic formula: So: Thus, all integers for which is a perfect square are: where is a positive divisor of such that is divisible by (so is integer).
Therefore, all such integers are given by the above formula for all positive divisors of with divisible by .
We can write: This is a quadratic in : The discriminant must be a perfect square for to be integer: for some integer .
So: Let be a positive divisor of , and set: Then: Now, is given by the quadratic formula: So: Thus, all integers for which is a perfect square are: where is a positive divisor of such that is divisible by (so is integer).
Therefore, all such integers are given by the above formula for all positive divisors of with divisible by .
Final answer
All integers n of the form n = -1005 ± (d + 2010^2/d)/4, where d ranges over positive divisors of 2010^2 such that d + 2010^2/d is divisible by 4.
Techniques
Factorization techniquesTechniques: modulo, size analysis, order analysis, inequalities