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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Given a non-negative integer nn, let k=02nakXk\sum_{k=0}^{2n} a_k X^k be the standard power expansion of the polynomial k=0n(nk)2(X+1)2k(X1)2(nk)\sum_{k=0}^{n} \binom{n}{k}^2 (X+1)^{2k} (X-1)^{2(n-k)}. The coefficients a2k+1a_{2k+1} all vanish since the polynomial is invariant under the change XXX \mapsto -X. Show that the a2ka_{2k} are all positive.

Solution

Leaving aside the trivial cases n=0n=0 and n=1n=1, assume n2n \ge 2. The conclusion follows from the fact that the polynomial under consideration,

f=k=0n(nk)2(X+1)2k(X1)2(nk), f = \sum_{k=0}^{n} \binom{n}{k}^2 (X+1)^{2k} (X-1)^{2(n-k)},
is expressible as a sum of n+1n+1 polynomials of the form (bkX2+ck)n(b_k X^2 + c_k)^n, where the bkb_k and the ckc_k are all non-negative real numbers and at least n1n-1 products bkckb_k c_k are positive; this latter then implies that the even powers of XX all occur in the expansion with a positive coefficient. In particular, the fact that the odd rank coefficients in the standard expansion all vanish comes for free.

Let SS be the set of (n+1)(n+1)-st roots of unity and recall that, if kk and \ell are integers in the range 00 through nn, then the sum ωSωkωˉ\sum_{\omega \in S} \omega^k \bar{\omega}^\ell vanishes, unless k=k=\ell in which case it is equal to n+1n+1.

f=1n+1k=0n=0n(nk)(n)(X+1)k+(X1)2nkωSωkωˉ=1n+1ωS(k=0n(nk)ωk(X+1)k(X1)nk)(=0n(n)ωˉ(X+1)(X1)n)=1n+1ωS(ω(X+1)+X1)n(ωˉ(X+1)+X1)n=1n+1ωS((2+ω+ωˉ)X2+2ωωˉ)n. \begin{align*} f &= \frac{1}{n+1} \sum_{k=0}^{n} \sum_{\ell=0}^{n} \binom{n}{k} \binom{n}{\ell} (X+1)^{k+\ell} (X-1)^{2n-k-\ell} \sum_{\omega \in S} \omega^k \bar{\omega}^{\ell} \\ &= \frac{1}{n+1} \sum_{\omega \in S} \left( \sum_{k=0}^{n} \binom{n}{k} \omega^k (X+1)^k (X-1)^{n-k} \right) \\ &\qquad \cdot \left( \sum_{\ell=0}^{n} \binom{n}{\ell} \bar{\omega}^{\ell} (X+1)^{\ell} (X-1)^{n-\ell} \right) \\ &= \frac{1}{n+1} \sum_{\omega \in S} (\omega(X+1) + X-1)^n (\bar{\omega}(X+1) + X-1)^n \\ &= \frac{1}{n+1} \sum_{\omega \in S} \left( (2+\omega+\bar{\omega})X^2 + 2 - \omega - \bar{\omega} \right)^n. \end{align*}

Finally, since each ω+ωˉ\omega + \bar{\omega} is a real number whose absolute value does not exceed 22 and ω+ωˉ<2\omega + \bar{\omega} < 2 for at least n1n-1 roots ω±1\omega \neq \pm 1, each summand above is a polynomial of the desired form. This completes the proof.

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