Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Let pp be a monic cubic polynomial such that p(0)=1p(0)=1 and such that all the zeros of p(x)p'(x) are also zeros of p(x)p(x). Find pp. Note: monic means that the leading coefficient is 1.

Solution

Solution:

(x+1)3(x+1)^3

A root of a polynomial pp will be a double root if and only if it is also a root of pp'. Let aa and bb be the roots of pp'. Since aa and bb are also roots of pp, they are double roots of pp. But pp can have only three roots, so a=ba = b and aa becomes a double root of pp'. This makes p(x)=3c(xa)2p'(x) = 3c(x-a)^2 for some constant 3c3c, and thus p(x)=c(xa)3+dp(x) = c(x-a)^3 + d. Because aa is a root of pp and pp is monic, d=0d = 0 and c=1c = 1. From p(0)=1p(0) = 1 we get p(x)=(x+1)3p(x) = (x+1)^3.

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