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jmc

algebra senior

Problem

Given a positive integer , it can be shown that every complex number of the form , where and are integers, can be uniquely expressed in the "base" using the integers as "digits." That is, the equationis true for a unique choice of non-negative integer and digits chosen from the set , with . We write to denote the base expansion of .

There are only finitely many integers that have four-digit expansions Find the sum of all such .
Solution
To say that is to say that Expanding the right-hand side, we have Since is a real number, the imaginary part of the right-hand side must be zero; that is, or Remember that , so . Thus, , so . We take cases, remembering that :

If , then we have . The only solution to this equation is , so we have Since , the possible values of are , and these have a sum If , then we have . The only solution to this equation is , so we have Therefore, the possible values of are , which sum to

Adding up both cases, we get the answer, .
Final answer
490