Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /18 of 1394

, 2020

Algebra Difficulty 4.5 AIME Find the answer United States

Problem:
Let P(x)P(x) be the unique polynomial of degree at most 20202020 satisfying P(k2)=kP\left(k^{2}\right)=k for k=0,1,2,,2020k=0,1,2, \ldots, 2020. Compute P(20212)P\left(2021^{2}\right).

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:
Since P(0)=0P(0)=0, we see that PP has no constant term. Let Q(x)=P(x2)xxQ(x)=\frac{P\left(x^{2}\right)-x}{x} be a polynomial with degree at most 40394039. From the given values of PP, we see that Q(k)=0Q(k)=0 and Q(k)=2Q(-k)=-2 for k=1,2,3,,2020k=1,2,3, \ldots, 2020.
Now, consider the polynomial R(x)=Q(x+1)Q(x)R(x)=Q(x+1)-Q(x), which has degree at most 40384038. Then RR has roots 2020,2019,,2,1,2,,2019-2020,-2019, \ldots,-2,1,2, \ldots, 2019, so
R(x)=a(x+2020)(x+2)(x1)(x2019) R(x)=a(x+2020) \cdots(x+2)(x-1) \cdots(x-2019)
for some real number aa. Using R(0)+R(1)=Q(1)Q(1)=2R(0)+R(-1)=Q(1)-Q(-1)=2 yields a=12020!2019!a=-\frac{1}{2020!2019!}, so
Q(2021)=R(2020)+Q(2020)=40402022201912020!2019!+0=12021(40402020) Q(2021)=R(2020)+Q(2020)=-\frac{4040 \cdots 2022 \cdot 2019 \cdots 1}{2020!2019!}+0=-\frac{1}{2021}\binom{4040}{2020}
It follows that P(20212)=2021Q(2021)+2021=2021(40402020)P\left(2021^{2}\right)=2021 Q(2021)+2021=2021-\binom{4040}{2020}.

Solution 2

Solution:
By Lagrange interpolation,
P(x)=k=02020k0j2020jk(xj2)(k2j2)=k=020202(1)kk(2020k)!(2020+k)!(xk2)j=02020(xj2) P(x)=\sum_{k=0}^{2020} k \prod_{\substack{0 \leq j \leq 2020 \\ j \neq k}} \frac{\left(x-j^{2}\right)}{\left(k^{2}-j^{2}\right)}=\sum_{k=0}^{2020} \frac{2(-1)^{k} k}{(2020-k)!(2020+k)!(x-k^{2})} \prod_{j=0}^{2020}\left(x-j^{2}\right)
Therefore, by applying Pascal's identity multiple times, we get that
P(20212)=k=020204042!(1)kk(2021k)!(2021+k)!=k=02020(40422021k)(1)kk=2021(k=02021(1)k+1k((40412021k)+(40412020k)))=2021(k=12021(1)k+1(40412021k))=2021(k=12021(1)k+1((40402021k)+(40402020k)))=2021(40402020). \begin{aligned} P\left(2021^{2}\right) & =\sum_{k=0}^{2020} \frac{4042!(-1)^{k} k}{(2021-k)!(2021+k)!} \\ & =\sum_{k=0}^{2020}\binom{4042}{2021-k}(-1)^{k} k \\ & =2021-\left(\sum_{k=0}^{2021}(-1)^{k+1} k\left(\binom{4041}{2021-k}+\binom{4041}{2020-k}\right)\right) \\ & =2021-\left(\sum_{k=1}^{2021}(-1)^{k+1}\binom{4041}{2021-k}\right) \\ & =2021-\left(\sum_{k=1}^{2021}(-1)^{k+1}\left(\binom{4040}{2021-k}+\binom{4040}{2020-k}\right)\right) \\ & =2021-\binom{4040}{2020} . \end{aligned}

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 reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.