IMO 1992 · Problem 1

Find all integers \(a,b,c\) with \(1<a<b<c\) such that \[ (a-1)(b-1)(c-1)\quad\text{is a divisor of }abc-1. \]

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

Answer

\[ \boxed{(a,b,c)=(2,4,8)\ \text{or}\ (3,5,15).} \]

Solution

Let \[ k=\frac{abc-1}{(a-1)(b-1)(c-1)}. \] By hypothesis, \(k\) is an integer. Moreover, \[ abc-1-(a-1)(b-1)(c-1) =a(b-1)+b(c-1)+c(a-1)>0, \] so \(k>1\).

The function \(t/(t-1)=1+1/(t-1)\) is decreasing for \(t>1\). Since \(a\ge2\), \(b\ge3\), and \(c\ge4\), we have \[ k< \frac{a}{a-1}\frac{b}{b-1}\frac{c}{c-1} \le 2\cdot\frac32\cdot\frac43=4. \] Thus \(k\in\{2,3\}\).

If \(a\ge4\), then \(b\ge5\) and \(c\ge6\), giving \[ k< \frac43\cdot\frac54\cdot\frac65=2, \] a contradiction. Hence \(a=2\) or \(a=3\).

Case 1: \(a=2\). Here \[ k-2 =\frac{2bc-1-2(b-1)(c-1)}{(b-1)(c-1)} =\frac{2b+2c-3}{(b-1)(c-1)}>0. \] Therefore \(k=3\), so \[ 2bc-1=3(b-1)(c-1). \] Rearranging yields \[ (b-3)(c-3)=5. \] Since \(3\le b<c\), the two factors are nonnegative and strictly increasing; their positive product makes both positive. As \(5\) is prime, they must be \(1\) and \(5\), respectively. Thus \[ (a,b,c)=(2,4,8). \]

Case 2: \(a=3\). Since \(b\ge4\) and \(c\ge5\), \[ k<\frac32\cdot\frac43\cdot\frac54=\frac52. \] Therefore \(k=2\), and \[ 3bc-1=4(b-1)(c-1). \] Rearranging yields \[ (b-4)(c-4)=11. \] Since \(4\le b<c\), these factors are positive and strictly increasing. As \(11\) is prime, they must be \(1\) and \(11\), respectively. Thus \[ (a,b,c)=(3,5,15). \]

Finally, both triples satisfy the required inequalities, and \[ 2\cdot4\cdot8-1=63=3(2-1)(4-1)(8-1), \] \[ 3\cdot5\cdot15-1=224=2(3-1)(5-1)(15-1). \] Hence both are solutions, and the cases above prove that there are no others.

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