Problem:
Prove that if \( 2n+1 \) and \( 3n+1 \) are both squares, then \( 5n+3 \) is not a prime.
Solution:
Proof by contradiction. Suppose that there is n such that 5n+3 is prime.
Note that \( 4(2n+1) - (3n+1) = 5n+3 \).
Let \( 2n+1 = p^2 \) and \( 3n+1 = q^2 \), where \( p, q > 0 \). We have \( (2p-q)(2p+q) = 5n+3 \). Since RHS is a prime, we must have \(2p - q = 1 \) and \( 2p + q = 5n+3 \). Solving for \( q \) we get \( 2q = 5n + 2 \). Substituting, we get \( 2q = q^2 + 2n + 1 \), or \( -2n = (q-1)^2 \). Since RHS is \( \geq 0 \), we can only have equality when \( n= 0 \) and \( q = 1 \). In this case, we have \( 5n + 3 = 8 \) not a prime. QED.
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