Using d x/d y Substitution

N ATHAN R AMESH

January 2016

What is d x/d y Substitution?

When presented with integers∗ a and b, we can make the substitution a = d x, b = d y, where d = gcd(a, b), and x
and y are integers.

Lemma. We have gcd(x, y) = 1.

Proof. Suppose instead that gcd(x, y) > 1, and consider a prime p that divides gcd(x, y). Since p divides their gcd,
we must have p|x, y. However, then pd is a common divisor of a and b, and since pd > d , this contradicts the
assertion that d = gcd(a, b). ä

A Simple Example
Example 1. If a and b must be positive integers no greater than 100, how many ordered pairs (a, b) exist such that
the least common multiple of a and b is ten times the greatest common factor of a and b?

Solution. We use d x/d y substitution. Let a = d x and b = d y where d = gcd(a, b) and gcd(x, y) = 1. It’s well known
that lcm(a, b) · gcd(a, b) = ab ⇒ d · lcm(a, b) = d 2 x y ⇒ lcm(a, b) = d x y. Now the condition is d x y = 10d ⇒ x y = 10.
Since gcd(x, y) = 1, the possible pairs (x, y) are (1, 10), (2, 5), (5, 2), (10, 1). Then (a, b) = (d , 10d ), (2d , 5d ), (5d , 2d ), (10d , d ),
and we can simply count. There are 10 of the first kind, 20 of the second, 20 of the third, and 10 of the fourth, for a
total of 60.

Of course, this problem pretty much sets up the substitution for us. In other examples the substitution may not
be so obvious. A MAJOR clue to using d x/d y substitution is seeing a diophantine equation where the gcd of all
variables divides both sides. However, keep in mind that these instances are not the only times when d x/d y sub-
stitution can be useful.

In the example above, the equation was lcm(a, b) = 10 · gcd(a, b). Clearly note that gcd(a, b) divides both sides,
hence d x/d y substitution seems like a great option.

More Evil Contraptions

In this section, we will examine some harder problems involving d x/d y substitution.

Example 2. Determine all values of positive integers a for which there exists a positive integer b such that a 2 +b 2 −a
∗ Of course, this can be generalized to work with more than two variables, but for our purposes we will stick to using only two.

1
is divisible by ab.

Solution. We wish so solve the divisibility ab|a 2 + b 2 − a. From the aforementioned criteria, d x/d y substitution
seems like a great candidate. Let a = d x and b = d y, where d = gcd(a, b) and gcd(x, y) = 1. The condition is
d 2 x y|d 2 x 2 + d 2 y 2 − d x. Note that d |x, but at the same time x|d , hence x = d and a = d 2 , so a must be a perfect
square. All perfect squares work for example by taking a = d 2 , b = d .
p p
Example 3. Let a be a positive integer and let b = ba 2c. Show that gcd(a, b)2 < 2a 2.†

Solution. This is perhaps the most difficult problem on this handout. We use d x/d y substitution. Let a = d x
p p
and b = d y, where d = gcd(a, b) and gcd(x, y) = 1. We want to show that d 2 < 2d x 2, or d < 2x 2. Notice that
p p
0 < a 2 − b < 1, so d x 2 − d y < 1 ⇒ d < p1 . It follows that
x 2−y

p
x 2+ y
1 p p
d< p = 2 2
≤ x 2 + y < 2x 2,
x 2 − y 2x − y

which was what we wanted.

More Problems for Enlightenment‡

Exercise 1. Let a and b be positive integers. Prove that gcd(a 2 + b 2 , ab) = gcd(a, b)2 .

Exercise 2. Characterize all ordered pairs of positive integers (a, b) such that a 3 − ab − b 2 = 0.

ab 3
Exercise 3. Find all triplets (a, b, p) of positive integers such that p is a prime number and a+b = p.

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Exercise 4. If a + b1 = 1c , where a, b, c are positive integers with no common factor, prove that (a + b) is a square.

Exercise 5. Characterize all ordered pairs of positive integers (a, b) such that (a − b)7 = a 3 b 3 .

p
† For an added bonus, prove that this bound is tight, that is, for all ² > 0, there exists a positive integer a such that gcd(a, b)2 > a(2 2 − ²).
‡ These are ordered roughly by difficulty. If you want hints, message me on Facebook.