1 Vieta Jumping

1.1 IMO 1988 Number 6

a2 +b2
Given integers a and b, and that ab + 1 divides a2 + b2 , prove that k = ab+1 is
the square of a positive integer.

1.2 Proof
1.2.1 Assumptions
1. Suppose there exists k such that k is not a perfect square.
2. Let (a, b) denote the solution that minimizes a + b.

3. Without loss of generality, suppose that a b.

1.2.2 Finding solutions (a, b)

We are given that
a2 + b2
=k (1)
ab + 1
from which we can rearrange to get a2 + b2 = abk + k, which simplifies to

a2 abk + b2 k = 0

Substituting in a=x, we get a quadratic equation

x2 (bk)x + (b2 k) = 0 (2)

By definition, we already know one root is x1 = a.

Now we can apply Vietas Formulas to get

x2 + a = bk and ax2 = b2 k

which yields
b2 k
x2 = bk a and x2 = (3)
a

1.2.3 Conclusions