Diophantine Equations

Daniel Bashir
September 28, 2015

Introduction

This paper will be a fairly short introduction to the topic of Diophantine Equations, which are very important in Number Theory. These can be used to solve
a variety of problems related to finding integer solutions.

2
2.1

Basics
The General Form

The basic form of a Diophantine Equation is ax+by = c, such that a, b, and c are
integer constants. These tend to be more difficult because they are unfactorable,
so we must employ a number of methods to deal with them.

2.2

Example

Before we dive into Diophantines, well warm up with a two variable problem
from the 2015 AMC 12A.
Example 1 Integers x and y with x > y > 0 satisfy x + y + xy = 80. What
is x?
We can factor this pretty easily by adding 1 to both sides and getting (x +
1)(y +1) = 81, which is a nice perfect square. We can factor 81 in multiple ways,
but we see that the only feasible option is 3 27, which gives us the solution 26
for x.

2.3

The Diophantine Equation

Well start our exploration of Diophantine Equations with the basic form where
c = 0.
In this case, we will have that ax + by = 0, so ax = by. An important thing
to note is that a and b may not be relatively prime, but if this is true, we can
simply divide both sides by their greatest common divisor so that they are.
For a simple example, well look at solutions to x = 2y. These would
include (4, 2), (2, 1), (0, 0), . In general, the solutions are (2k, k) for any
integer k.
Next, well look at 3x + 7y = 41. The first thing to note is that the GCD
of (3, 7) divides 41. This means that our equation has an infinite number of
solutions.
1

We can solve this equation in two steps, first by considering 3x + 7y = 0

(in order to find the infinite solution set), then by using the full equation and
coming up with basic solutions.
From earlier information, the solutions to 3x + 7y = 0 are of the form
(7k, 3k). To deal with 3x + 7y = 41, we take 3x + 7y 41 (mod 7). This
gives us 3x 41 6 (mod 7). Thus, we have x 2 (mod 7). So, well take
x = 2, which gives us y = 5. Our solution is (2 + 7k, 5 3k).
Conversely, lets look at the Diophantine Equation 2x + 2y = 1. First, we
note that the GCD of (2, 2), or 2, does not divide 1 evenly. Thus, this equation
has no integer solutions.
Sample Problem Two farmers agree that pigs are worth 300 dollars and
that goats are worth 210 dollars. When one farmer owes the other money, he
pays the debt in pigs or goats, with change received in the form of goats or
pigs as necessary. (For example, a 390 dollar debt could be paid with two pigs,
with one goat received in change.) What is the amount of the smallest positive
debt that can be resolved in this way? (AMC 2006)
Solution: We can express this equation as 300p + 210g = x, where x is the
positive debt. Additionally, p and g are integers, making this a Diophantine
Equation. There are solutions to the equation am + bn = c such that c is the
GCD of a and b, but no solutions for any smaller c. Therefore, the answer is
the greatest common divisor of 300 and 210, or 30.
Note: In this article, we have mainly dealt with what are considered linear Diophantine Equations, meaning that we are dealing only with variables of power 1, but they can appear in a variety of forms. For example, the
Pythagorean Triples (x2 + y 2 = z 2 ) are derived from this general Diophantine
Equation as well.

2.4

Problems

1. Find all integer solutions to

1
x

1
y

1
7

2. Find all integer solutions of 56x + 72y = 40.

3. Find all integer solutions of the equation x2 7y 2 = 1.
4. Challenge Find, with proof, all integers n for which 2n + 12n + 2011n is
a perfect square. (USAJMO 2011)

2.5

Hints

1. Problem 3: Approach this in the same way as you would linear Diophantines, but think about quadratic residues.
2. Problem 4: Experiment with values of n, starting with n = 1. What
happens when n > 1? When its even or odd?