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Czech-Slovak-Polish Match

Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Czech Republic

Show that real numbers pp, qq, rr satisfy the condition
p4(q−r)2+2p2(q+r)+1=p4 p^4(q-r)^2 + 2p^2(q+r) + 1 = p^4
if and only if the quadratic equations
x2+px+q=0andy2−py+r=0 x^2 + px + q = 0 \quad \text{and} \quad y^2 - py + r = 0
have real roots (not necessarily distinct) which can be labelled by x1,2x_{1,2} and y1,2y_{1,2}, respectively, in such way that the equality x1y1−x2y2=1x_1y_1 - x_2y_2 = 1 holds.

Solution

First part. Assume that the equations (2) have real roots satisfying x1y1−x2y2=1x_1y_1 - x_2y_2 = 1. By the familiar formula, the roots of the quadratic equations are given by
x1,2=−p±K2andy1,2=p±L2, x_{1,2} = \frac{-p \pm K}{2} \quad \text{and} \quad y_{1,2} = \frac{p \pm L}{2},
where the real numbers K,LK, L satisfy K2=p2−4qK^2 = p^2 - 4q and L2=p2−4rL^2 = p^2 - 4r (we choose the signs of K,LK, L in accordance with the labelling of the roots). Thus
1=x1y1−x2y2=(−p+K)(p+L)−(−p−K)(p−L)4=p(K−L)2, 1 = x_1y_1 - x_2y_2 = \frac{(-p+K)(p+L) - (-p-K)(p-L)}{4} = \frac{p(K-L)}{2},
whence p≠0p \neq 0 and K−L=2/pK - L = 2/p. Substituting this into the equality
(K+L)(K−L)=K2−L2=(p2−4q)−(p2−4r)=4(r−q) (K+L)(K-L) = K^2 - L^2 = (p^2-4q) - (p^2-4r) = 4(r-q)
yields K+L=2p(r−q)K+L = 2p(r-q). From these values of K+LK+L and K−LK-L we obtain K=1/p−p(q−r)K = 1/p - p(q-r), so upon squaring, K2=1/p2−2(q−r)p2+(q−r)2K^2 = 1/p^2 - 2(q-r)p^2 + (q-r)^2. Comparing this with the equality K2=p2−4qK^2 = p^2 - 4q, an easy manipulation leads to the desired equation (1).

Second part. Assume that (1) holds. Then clearly p≠0p \neq 0. The equation (1) can be rewritten in either of the following two forms,
p4(q−r)2+2p2(q−r)+1=p4−4p2randp4(r−q)2+2p2(r−q)+1=p4−4p2q. p^4(q-r)^2 + 2p^2(q-r) + 1 = p^4 - 4p^2r \quad \text{and} \quad p^4(r-q)^2 + 2p^2(r-q) + 1 = p^4 - 4p^2q.
Upon dividing by p2p^2 we find that the discriminants of the equations (2) are equal to
p2−4q=(p2(r−q)+1p)2andp2−4r=(p2(q−r)+1p)2; p^2 - 4q = \left( \frac{p^2(r-q)+1}{p} \right)^2 \quad \text{and} \quad p^2 - 4r = \left( \frac{p^2(q-r)+1}{p} \right)^2;
hence, they are nonnegative and the (real) roots of (2) have the form (3), where
K=p2(r−q)+1pandL=−p2(q−r)+1p. K = \frac{p^2(r-q)+1}{p} \quad \text{and} \quad L = -\frac{p^2(q-r)+1}{p}.
The signs of the numbers KK and LL have been chosen so that (see First Part)
x1y1−x2y2=p(K−L)2=p2⋅(p2(r−q)+1p+p2(q−r)+1p)=1. x_1y_1 - x_2y_2 = \frac{p(K-L)}{2} = \frac{p}{2} \cdot \left( \frac{p^2(r-q)+1}{p} + \frac{p^2(q-r)+1}{p} \right) = 1.

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