Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

The sum of coprime integers mm and nn equals 9090. What largest possible value can be attained by the product mnmn of these integers?

Solution

Make the following transformations:
mn=(m+n2)2(mn2)2=452(m(90m)2)2=2025(m45)2max. mn = \left(\frac{m+n}{2}\right)^2 - \left(\frac{m-n}{2}\right)^2 = 45^2 - \left(\frac{m-(90-m)}{2}\right)^2 = 2025 - (m-45)^2 \rightarrow \max.
So the max will be achieved, when the value of the expression (m45)2(m - 45)^2 is minimized, but here we have to not forget that m,nm, n are coprime.

m=45m = 45, then n=45n = 45 and numbers m,nm, n aren't coprime.

m=46m = 46, then n=44n = 44 and numbers m,nm, n aren't coprime.

m=47m = 47, then n=43n = 43 and numbers m,nm, n are coprime, as required. So the largest value of the product is 2025(4745)2=20212025 - (47 - 45)^2 = 2021.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.