A Useful Lemma

Samin Riasat

In this article we consider the following very simple lemma and illustrate some
of its applications.

Proposition. If x, y, z are integers such that xy = z 2 then there exist integers

m, n, k such that (x, y, z) = (km2 , kn2 , kmn) and (m, n) = 1.

Proof. Let k = (x, y) and x = kX, y = kY where (X, Y ) = 1. Then k 2 XY = z 2

and thus k | z. Let z = kZ. This implies XY = Z 2 . Since (X, Y ) = 1 we must have
X = m2 , Y = n2 which imply Z = mn and thus (x, y, z) = (km2 , kn2 , kmn).

Here are some applications:

Problem 1. Find all integer solutions to a2 + b2 = c2 .

Solution. The equality is equivalent to b2 = c2 a2 = (c + a)(c a). There-

fore applying our lemma we get b = kmn, c + a = km2 and c a = kn2 . Hence
c = k2 (m2 + n2 ), a = k2 (m2 n2 ). Since (m, n) = 1, either m, n are both odd or
their sum is odd. In the first case we may let m + n = 2u, m n = 2v. This implies
(a, b, c) = (2kuv, k(u2 v 2 ), k(u2 + v 2 )), where (u, v) = 1 and u + v is odd.

For the latter case let k = 2t. Then (a, b, c) = (t(m2 n2 ), 2tmn, t(m2 + n2 )) for
integers m, n, t such that (m, n) = 1 and m + n is odd. Therefore all solutions are
given by

a = t(m2 n2 )
b = 2tmn
c = t(m2 + n2 )

where m, n, t are integers such that (m, n) = 1 and m + n is odd.

1
 Problem 2. Find all integer solutions to a2 + 2b2 = c2 .

Solution. We have 2b2 = (c + a)(c a). Since the 2 on the left can be in only
one of c + a and c a we must have either b = kmn, c + a = 2km2 , c a = kn2
or b = kmn, c + a = km2 , c a = 2kn2 . Hence c = k2 (2m2 + n2 ), a = k2 (2m2 n2 )
or c = k2 (m2 + 2n2 ), a = k2 (m2 2n2 ). If m, n are odd, letting k = 2t we get
(a, b, c) = (t(m2 2n2 ), 2tmn, t(m2 + 2n2 )). If one of them is even (i.e. n in the
first case and m in the second) we get the same solution.

Problem 3. Find all integer solutions to
1 1 1
+ =
a b c
Alternative Formulation. Find all integers a, b whose sum divides their product.

Solution. Note that a1 + 1b = 1c ab = c(a + b) (a c)(b c) = c2 .

Thus a c = km2 , b c = kn2 , c = kmn. Therefore we conclude that (a, b, c) =
(km(m + n), kn(m + n), kmn) for integers m, n, k with (m, n) = 1.

Problem 4. (British Math Olympiad 97/98) Suppose x, y, z are positive
integers satisfying the equation
1 1 1
=
x y z
and let h be the highest common factor of x, y, z. Prove that hxyz is a perfect
square. Prove also that h(y x) is a perfect square.

Solution. Rewrite the equation as (zx)(z+y) = z 2 . Thus we conclude that z

x = km2 , z+y = kn2 , z = kmn for some integers m, n, k such that (m, n) = 1. Hence
(x, y, z) = (km(nm), kn(nm), kmn). Since (m, n) = (m, nm) = (n, nm) = 1
we get (m(n m), n(n m), mn) = (m(n m), n(n m, m)) = 1 and thus k = h.
We therefore conclude that hxyz = (mnk 2 (n m))2 and h(y x) = (k(n m))2 ,
which complete the proof.

Problem
5. Show that if a, b are distinct non-negative integers such that one

of a b is an integer, then a and b are both perfect squares.

Solution. Note that a b = c is equivalent to a + b 2 ab = c2 . Hence
2
2a 2b = c a b = d for some positive integer d. Again, (2a, 2b) = 2(a, b) =
2k for some positive integer k. Therefore applying our lemma for the equation

2
2a 2b = d2 we conclude that 2a = 2km2 , 2b = 2kn2 , d = 2kmn, for positive integers
m, n with (m, n) = 1. Hence c2 km2 kn2 = 2kmn, which implies c2 = k(mn)2 .
Therefore k must be a perfect square, this completes the proof.

Lastly, we prove the following using our tools:

Problem 6. Show that the equation

a4 + 2b2 = c4

has no non-trivial integer solutions.

Solution. We may WLOG assume that a, b, c are positive. If (a, c) > 1, we may
divide the equation by (a, c) and get a similar equation. Hence we may assume that
(a, c) = 1. This implies a, b, c are pairwise relatively prime and (a, b, c) is a prim-
itive solution to the equation. Using the result in Problem 2 above, we therefore
conclude that a2 = (n2 2m2 ), b = 2nm, c2 = n2 + 2m2 , where n, m are integers
such that (n, m) = 1. Since (a, b) = 1, n must be odd. Hence c is odd and thus
c2 = n2 + 2m2 1 (mod 8) implies 2 | m. Now a2 = 2m2 n2 implies a2 1
(mod 4), contradiction. Hence a2 = n2 2m2 .

From the last equations we get c2 +a2 = 2n2 , c2 a2 = 4m2 . Hence (c+a)(ca) =
4m2 implies c + a = 2x2 , c a = 2y 2 , as (c + a, c a) = (c + a, 2c) = 2. Then
(2n) = 2(c2 + a2 ) = (c + a)2 + (c a)2 = 4x4 + 4y 4 which implies x4 + y 4 = n2 ,
2

which is well known to have no non-trivial solutions in integers and is therefore left
to the reader as an exercise.