Find the largest positive integer such that there exist real polynomials where the sum of any two has no real roots but the sum of any three does.
Solution
When , we can take the constant polynomials which clearly satisfy the problem conditions.
Now assume that and let our polynomials be .
Note that for any , we must have either or for all as otherwise it must have a real root. If there exist indices such that all have the same sign, say positive, then for all
which is a contradiction as the sum would have no real roots. We shall show that such a triple of indices must exist.
WLOG let for and that . Then for all . If there exist chosen from 2, 3, 4 such that , then is such a triple. If not, then 2, 3, 4 is such a triple. Thus cannot be four. Therefore the only answer is .
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