Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-1/11/b/solution

The square roots simplify to the absolute values and . Put . A nontrivial solution of the homogeneous linear system exists exactly when its coefficient matrix is singular:
The second factor vanishes precisely when , or , giving both coordinate axes. The first factor vanishes when is a nonnegative integer. Hence the complete locus is
These are the two axes together with concentric circles of positive integer radii. The zero-radius case is the origin, already included on the axes; at that point both equations vanish and any nonzero pair works.
Figure 1.
The parameter locus consists of both axes and circles with integer radii
. Details.

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