Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /28 of 54

Geometry Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it China

Consider a square on the complex plane. The complex numbers corresponding to its four vertices are the four roots of some equation of the fourth degree with one unknown and integer coefficients x4+px3+qx2+rx+s=0x^4+px^3+qx^2+rx+s=0. Find the minimum value of the area of such square. (posed by Xiong Bin)

Solution

Suppose the complex number corresponding to the center of the square is aa. Then after translating the origin of the complex plane to aa, the vertices of the square distribute evenly on the circumference. That is, they are the solutions of equation (xa)4=b(x-a)^4 = b, where bb is a complex number. Hence,

x4+px3+qx2+rx+s=(xa)4b=x44ax3+6a2x24a3x+a4b. \begin{align*} x^4 + px^3 + qx^2 + rx + s &= (x-a)^4 - b \\ &= x^4 - 4a x^3 + 6a^2 x^2 - 4a^3 x + a^4 - b. \end{align*}

Comparing the coefficients of terms for xx with the same degree, we know that a=p4-a = \frac{p}{4}, and it is a rational number. Combining further that 4a3=r-4a^3 = r is an integer, we can see that aa is an integer. So by using the fact that s=a4bs = a^4 - b is an integer, we can show that bb is also an integer.

The above discussion makes clear of a fact that the four numbers corresponding to the four vertices of this square are roots of integer coefficients equation (xa)4=b(x - a)^4 = b. Hence, the radius of its circumcircle (=b4=\sqrt[4]{|b|}) is not less than 11. Therefore, the area of this square is not less than (2)2=2(\sqrt{2})^2 = 2. But the four roots of the equation x4=1x^4 = 1 are corresponding to the four vertices of a square on the complex plane. Hence, the minimum value of the area of the square is 22.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.