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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it South Africa

Find all polynomials a(x),b(x),c(x),d(x)a(x), b(x), c(x), d(x) with real coefficients satisfying the simultaneous equations

b(x)c(x)+a(x)d(x)=0a(x)c(x)+(1x2)b(x)d(x)=x+1 \begin{aligned} b(x)c(x) + a(x)d(x) &= 0 \\ a(x)c(x) + (1 - x^2)b(x)d(x) &= x + 1 \end{aligned}

Solution

We first show that it is not possible for all four polynomials to be non-zero. Suppose they are. Denote the leading coefficients of the polynomials a(x),b(x),c(x),d(x)a(x), b(x), c(x), d(x) (which exist, because the polynomials are non-zero) by A,B,C,DA, B, C, D, respectively. Then the first equation implies BC=ADBC = -AD and thus ABCD=(BC)2<0ABCD = -(BC)^2 < 0. In the second equation, the leading coefficient of a(x)c(x)a(x)c(x) is ACAC and the leading coefficient of (1x2)b(x)d(x)(1-x^2)b(x)d(x) is BD-BD. Since the degree of (1x2)b(x)d(x)(1-x^2)b(x)d(x) is at least 2, these leading coefficients must cancel if we wish to end up with x+1x+1 on the right. Thus ACBD=0AC - BD = 0, which implies that ABCD=(AC)2>0ABCD = (AC)^2 > 0. We have two contradictory inequalities, proving that this system has no solution when all four polynomials are non-zero.

Now suppose that a(x)=0a(x) = 0. Then, by the first equation, b(x)=0b(x) = 0 or c(x)=0c(x) = 0. If b(x)=0b(x) = 0, we see that the second equation is not satisfied. If c(x)=0c(x) = 0, we see that, again, the second equation is not satisfied, due to differences in degrees. Similarly, when c(x)=0c(x) = 0, we find, in a symmetrical way, that there are no solutions.

Henceforth, we assume that both a(x)a(x) and c(x)c(x) are non-zero. So either b(x)b(x) or d(x)d(x) (or both) must be zero. From the first equation, b(x)=0b(x) = 0 if and only if d(x)=0d(x) = 0. It follows that the complete set of solutions is given by all (a(x),b(x),c(x),d(x))(a(x), b(x), c(x), d(x)) where a(x)c(x)=x+1a(x)c(x) = x+1 and b(x)=d(x)=0b(x) = d(x) = 0, i.e.,

{(k,0,xk+1k,0):k a non-zero real number}{(xk+1k,0,k,0):k a non-zero real number}. \{(k, 0, \frac{x}{k} + \frac{1}{k}, 0) : k \text{ a non-zero real number}\} \cup \{(\frac{x}{k} + \frac{1}{k}, 0, k, 0) : k \text{ a non-zero real number}\}.

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