IMO 1984 · Problem 2

Find one pair of positive integers \(a\) and \(b\) such that:

(i) \(ab(a+b)\) is not divisible by \(7\);

(ii) \((a+b)^7-a^7-b^7\) is divisible by \(7^7\).

Justify your answer.

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Answer

\[ \boxed{(a,b)=(1,18)}. \]

Solution

By the binomial theorem, \[ \begin{aligned} (a+b)^7-a^7-b^7 &=7ab\bigl(a^5+3a^4b+5a^3b^2+5a^2b^3+3ab^4+b^5\bigr)\\ &=7ab(a+b)(a^2+ab+b^2)^2. \end{aligned} \]

Choose \(a=1\) and \(b=18\), both positive integers. Then \[ ab(a+b)=18\cdot19=342\equiv6\pmod7, \] so condition (i) holds. Also, \[ a^2+ab+b^2=1+18+324=343=7^3. \] Consequently, \[ (a+b)^7-a^7-b^7 =7\cdot342\cdot(7^3)^2 =342\cdot7^7, \] which proves condition (ii).

The solution was checked against John Scholes' IMO solution archive (Kalva).