IMO 2010 #3

by Wolstenholme, Nov 4, 2014, 4:03 AM

Find all functions $g:\mathbb{N}\rightarrow\mathbb{N}$ such that
\[
\left(g(m)+n\right)\left(g(n)+m\right)\]


is perfect square for all $m,n\in\mathbb{N}.$

Solution:

Lemma 1: $ g(n) \ne g(n + 1) $ and $ g(n) \ne g(n + 2) $

Proof: This follows immediately from the fact that the product of two positive integers with difference less than $ 3 $ cannot be a perfect square.

Lemma 2: For any odd prime $ p $, we have that $ p \vert g(a) - g(b) \Longrightarrow p \vert a - b $ for all $ a, b \in \mathbb{N} $

Proof: Assume $ p \vert g(a) - g(b) $ for some $ a, b \in \mathbb{N}. $ It is clear that there exists a $ k \in \mathbb{N} $ such that $ v_p(g(a) + k) = v_p(g(b) + k) = 1. $ Since $ (g(a) + k)(g(k) + a) $ is a square we must have $ p \vert g(k) + a $ and similarly we find that $ p \vert g(k) + b $ which implies the desired result.

Lemma 3: $ 4 \vert g(a) - g(b) \Longrightarrow 2 \vert a - b $ for all $ a, b \in \mathbb{N} . $

Proof: This is essentially equivalent to the proof of Lemma 2.

The combination of Lemmas $ 2 $ and $ 3 $ yields that $ |g(n + 1) - g(n)| \le 2 $ for all $ n \in \mathbb{N}. $ After some casework using Lemma 1, we find that the only solution is $ g(n) = n + c $ where $ c \in \mathbb{N}. $
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Wolstenholme, Nov 4, 2014, 3:44 PM

Comment

2 Comments

The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
Hello, $g(n)=n+c$ is a solution for all nonnegative integers $c$.

by yugrey, Nov 4, 2014, 4:11 AM

The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
Thanks Yugrey, edited

by Wolstenholme, Nov 4, 2014, 3:44 PM

Archives
+ June 2016
+ April 2016
+ March 2016
+ July 2015
+ February 2015
+ June 2014
Shouts
Submit
  • glad to have found a fellow chipotle lover <3

    by nukelauncher, Aug 13, 2020, 6:40 AM

  • the random chinese tst problem is the only thing I read, but I'll assume your blog is nice and give you a shout even though you probably never use aops anymoer

    by fukano_2, Jun 14, 2020, 6:24 AM

  • wolstenholme - op

    by AopsUser101, Jan 29, 2020, 8:27 PM

  • this blog is so hot

    by mathleticguyyy, Jun 5, 2019, 8:26 PM

  • Hi. Nice Blog!

    by User360702, Jan 10, 2019, 6:03 PM

  • helloooooo

    by songssari, Jun 12, 2016, 8:21 AM

  • shouts make blogs happier

    by briantix, Mar 18, 2016, 9:57 PM

  • You were just featured on AoPS's facebook page.

    by mishka1980, Sep 12, 2015, 10:33 PM

  • This is late, but where is the ARML results post?

    by donot, Aug 31, 2015, 11:07 PM

  • "I am Sam"
    "Sam I am"

    by mathwizard888, Aug 12, 2015, 9:13 PM

  • HW$\textcolor{white}{}$

    by Eugenis, Apr 20, 2015, 10:10 PM

  • Uh-oh ARML practice is Thursday... I should start the homework. :P

    by nosaj, Apr 20, 2015, 12:34 AM

  • Yes I am Sam, and Chebyshev polynomials aren't trivial, although they do make some problems trivial :P

    by Wolstenholme, Apr 15, 2015, 10:00 PM

  • How are Chebyshev Polynomials trivial? :P

    by nosaj, Apr 13, 2015, 4:10 AM

  • Are you Sam?

    by Eugenis, Apr 4, 2015, 2:05 AM

  • @Brian: yes, yes I did #whoneedsalgskillz?

    @gauss1181; hey!

    by Wolstenholme, Mar 1, 2015, 11:25 PM

  • hello!!! :D

    by gauss1181, Nov 27, 2014, 12:19 AM

  • Hi Wolstenholme did you actually use calc on that tstst problem :o

    by briantix, Aug 2, 2014, 12:25 AM

18 shouts
Contributors
Tags
About Owner
  • Posts: 543
  • Joined: Mar 3, 2013
Blog Stats
  • Blog created: Apr 3, 2013
  • Total entries: 112
  • Total visits: 35003
  • Total comments: 167
Search Blog
a