Prove that m-n divides p. Let a_1,a_2,a_3 be a non constant arithmetic Progression of integers with common difference p and b_1,b_2,b_3 be a geometric Progression with common ratio r.

Madilyn Quinn

Madilyn Quinn

Answered question

2022-10-29

Prove that m n divides p
Let a 1 , a 2 , a 3 be a non constant arithmetic Progression of integers with common difference p and b 1 , b 2 , b 3 be a geometric Progression with common ratio r. Consider 3 polynomials P 1 ( x ) = x 2 + a 1 x + b 1 , P 2 ( x ) = x 2 + a 2 x + b 2 , P 3 ( x ) = x 2 + a 3 x + b 3 . Suppose there exist integers m and n such that g c d ( m , n ) = 1 and P 1 ( m ) = P 2 ( n ) , P 2 ( m ) = P 3 ( n ) and P 3 ( m ) = P 1 ( n ). Prove that m n divides p.
I made the 3 equations but am unable to get the result from them. How should I manipulate them.

Answer & Explanation

Jovanni Salinas

Jovanni Salinas

Beginner2022-10-30Added 18 answers

Step 1
The claim is not true. A counterexample is
m = 5 , n = 3 , p = 3 , r = 3 5 , a 1 = 11 , b 1 = 75 2 .
In the following, I'm going to write about how I figured out these values and about that the claim is true if b 1 is an integer.
We have
P 1 ( m ) = P 2 ( n ) m 2 + a 1 m + b 1 = n 2 + a 2 n + b 2
(1) m 2 + a 1 m + b 1 = n 2 + ( a 1 + p ) n + b 1 r
P 2 ( m ) = P 3 ( n ) m 2 + a 2 m + b 2 = n 2 + a 3 n + b 3
(2) m 2 + ( a 1 + p ) m + b 1 r = n 2 + ( a 1 + 2 p ) n + b 1 r 2
P 3 ( m ) = P 1 ( n ) m 2 + a 3 m + b 3 = n 2 + a 1 n + b 1
(3) m 2 + ( a 1 + 2 p ) m + b 1 r 2 = n 2 + a 1 n + b 1
From ( 2 ) ( 1 ), we have
(4) p m + b 1 ( r 1 ) = p n + b 1 r ( r 1 )
From ( 3 ) ( 2 ), we have
(5) p m + b 1 r ( r 1 ) = 2 p n + b 1 ( 1 r 2 )
Now ( 4 ) ( 5 ) gives
(6) b 1 ( r 1 r 2 + r ) = 3 p n + b 1 ( r 2 r 1 + r 2 ) p n = b 1 ( r 2 + r )
Also 2 × ( 4 ) ( 5 ) gives
(7) p m = b 1 ( r + 1 )
Step 2
Hence, from (6)(7), we have
p m r = p n ,
i.e.
r = n m .
Now from (7), we have
(8) p m = b 1 ( n m + 1 ) p m 2 = b 1 ( m n )
Note here that gcd ( m 2 , m n ) = 1
Hence, if b 1 is an integer, then we have that m n divides p.
By the way, from (3), we can have a 1 = m n p

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