MAT - Paper 2008 - Q2
Flashcards
Forcing a quadratic form to vanish identically
You’ve rearranged an expression to get
\[(8 - 2a^2)x^2 + (24 - 4ab)xy + (18-2b^2)y^2 = 0\]
What must now be true for it to always equal zero for positive integers $x$ and $y$?
\[2a^2 = 8\]
\[4ab = 24\]
\[2b^2 = 18\]