IMO 1998 · Problem 4

Determine all pairs \((a, b)\) of positive integers such that \(ab^2+b+7\) divides \(a^2b+a+b\).

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

Answer

\[ \boxed{(a,b)=(11,1),\ (49,1),\quad\text{or}\quad(7t^2,7t)\ \text{for any positive integer }t.} \]

Solution

Put \[ D=ab^2+b+7,\qquad N=a^2b+a+b. \] Suppose \(D\mid N\). The identity \[ bN-aD=b^2-7a \] then gives \[ D\mid b^2-7a. \]

Case 1: \(b\ge3\). Since \(a\ge1\) and \(b^2\ge9\), we have \[ D>b^2,\qquad D>7a. \] Consequently, \[ -D<b^2-7a<D. \] The only multiple of \(D\) in this interval is zero, so \(b^2=7a\). As \(7\) is prime, \(7\mid b\). Writing \(b=7t\), we obtain \(a=7t^2\), where \(t\) is a positive integer.

Conversely, for these values, \[ N=343t^5+7t^2+7t =t(343t^4+7t+7)=tD, \] so every such pair satisfies the condition.

Case 2: \(b=1\). Here the condition is \[ a+8\mid a^2+a+1. \] Using \[ a^2+a+1=(a+8)(a-7)+57, \] this is equivalent to \(a+8\mid57\). The positive divisors of \(57\) are \(1,3,19,57\). Since \(a+8\ge9\), we must have \(a+8=19\) or \(57\), giving \(a=11\) or \(49\). The equivalence also verifies both solutions.

Case 3: \(b=2\). The initial divisibility gives \[ 4a+9\mid4-7a. \] Thus \[ 4a+9\mid 4(4-7a)+7(4a+9)=79. \] The number \(79\) is prime: none of the primes \(2,3,5,7\), which are all the primes below \(\sqrt{79}\), divides it. Since \(4a+9\ge13\), we would therefore have \(4a+9=79\). This is impossible, because \(4a+9\equiv1\pmod4\), whereas \(79\equiv3\pmod4\).

These cases exhaust all positive integers \(b\), proving the answer.

The solution was checked against Evan Chen's published IMO solution notes.