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Algebra Difficulty 9.0 IMO level Prove it IMO

Let nn be a fixed integer with n2n \geqslant 2. We say that two polynomials PP and QQ with real coefficients are block-similar if for each i{1,2,,n}i \in\{1,2, \ldots, n\} the sequences
P(2015i),P(2015i1),,P(2015i2014) and Q(2015i),Q(2015i1),,Q(2015i2014) \begin{aligned} & P(2015 i), P(2015 i-1), \ldots, P(2015 i-2014) \quad \text{ and } \\ & Q(2015 i), Q(2015 i-1), \ldots, Q(2015 i-2014) \end{aligned}
are permutations of each other.

a. Prove that there exist distinct block-similar polynomials of degree n+1n+1.

b. Prove that there do not exist distinct block-similar polynomials of degree nn.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

For convenience, we set k=2015=2+1k=2015=2 \ell+1.

a.
Consider the following polynomials of degree n+1n+1 :
P(x)=i=0n(xik) and Q(x)=i=0n(xik1). P(x)=\prod_{i=0}^{n}(x-i k) \quad \text{ and } \quad Q(x)=\prod_{i=0}^{n}(x-i k-1) .
Since Q(x)=P(x1)Q(x)=P(x-1) and P(0)=P(k)=P(2k)==P(nk)P(0)=P(k)=P(2 k)=\cdots=P(n k), these polynomials are block-similar (and distinct).

b.
For every polynomial F(x)F(x) and every nonnegative integer mm, define ΣF(m)=i=1mF(i)\Sigma_{F}(m)= \sum_{i=1}^{m} F(i); in particular, ΣF(0)=0\Sigma_{F}(0)=0. It is well-known that for every nonnegative integer dd the sum i=1mid\sum_{i=1}^{m} i^{d} is a polynomial in mm of degree d+1d+1. Thus ΣF\Sigma_{F} may also be regarded as a real polynomial of degree degF+1\operatorname{deg} F+1 (with the exception that if F=0F=0, then ΣF=0\Sigma_{F}=0 as well). This allows us to consider the values of ΣF\Sigma_{F} at all real points (where the initial definition does not apply).

Assume for the sake of contradiction that there exist two distinct block-similar polynomials P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) of degree nn. Then both polynomials ΣPQ(x)\Sigma_{P-Q}(x) and ΣP2Q2(x)\Sigma_{P^{2}-Q^{2}}(x) have roots at the points 0,k,2k,,nk0, k, 2 k, \ldots, n k. This motivates the following lemma, where we use the special polynomial
T(x)=i=0n(xik) T(x)=\prod_{i=0}^{n}(x-i k)

Lemma. Assume that F(x)F(x) is a nonzero polynomial such that 0,k,2k,,nk0, k, 2 k, \ldots, n k are among the roots of the polynomial ΣF(x)\Sigma_{F}(x). Then degFn\operatorname{deg} F \geqslant n, and there exists a polynomial G(x)G(x) such that degG=degFn\operatorname{deg} G=\operatorname{deg} F-n and F(x)=T(x)G(x)T(x1)G(x1)F(x)=T(x) G(x)-T(x-1) G(x-1).

Proof. If degF<n\operatorname{deg} F<n, then ΣF(x)\Sigma_{F}(x) has at least n+1n+1 roots, while its degree is less than n+1n+1. Therefore, ΣF(x)=0\Sigma_{F}(x)=0 and hence F(x)=0F(x)=0, which is impossible. Thus degFn\operatorname{deg} F \geqslant n.

The lemma condition yields that ΣF(x)=T(x)G(x)\Sigma_{F}(x)=T(x) G(x) for some polynomial G(x)G(x) such that degG=degΣF(n+1)=degFn\operatorname{deg} G=\operatorname{deg} \Sigma_{F}-(n+1)=\operatorname{deg} F-n.

Now, let us define F1(x)=T(x)G(x)T(x1)G(x1)F_{1}(x)=T(x) G(x)-T(x-1) G(x-1). Then for every positive integer nn we have
ΣF1(n)=i=1n(T(x)G(x)T(x1)G(x1))=T(n)G(n)T(0)G(0)=T(n)G(n)=ΣF(n) \Sigma_{F_{1}}(n)=\sum_{i=1}^{n}(T(x) G(x)-T(x-1) G(x-1))=T(n) G(n)-T(0) G(0)=T(n) G(n)=\Sigma_{F}(n)
so the polynomial ΣFF1(x)=ΣF(x)ΣF1(x)\Sigma_{F-F_{1}}(x)=\Sigma_{F}(x)-\Sigma_{F_{1}}(x) has infinitely many roots. This means that this polynomial is zero, which in turn yields F(x)=F1(x)F(x)=F_{1}(x), as required.

First, we apply the lemma to the nonzero polynomial R1(x)=P(x)Q(x)R_{1}(x)=P(x)-Q(x). Since the degree of R1(x)R_{1}(x) is at most nn, we conclude that it is exactly nn. Moreover, R1(x)=α(T(x)T(x1))R_{1}(x)=\alpha \cdot(T(x)-T(x-1)) for some nonzero constant α\alpha.

Our next aim is to prove that the polynomial S(x)=P(x)+Q(x)S(x)=P(x)+Q(x) is constant. Assume the contrary. Then, notice that the polynomial R2(x)=P(x)2Q(x)2=R1(x)S(x)R_{2}(x)=P(x)^{2}-Q(x)^{2}=R_{1}(x) S(x) is also nonzero and satisfies the lemma condition. Since n<degR1+degS=degR22nn<\operatorname{deg} R_{1}+\operatorname{deg} S=\operatorname{deg} R_{2} \leqslant 2 n, the lemma yields
R2(x)=T(x)G(x)T(x1)G(x1) R_{2}(x)=T(x) G(x)-T(x-1) G(x-1)
with some polynomial G(x)G(x) with 0<degGn0<\operatorname{deg} G \leqslant n.

Since the polynomial R1(x)=α(T(x)T(x1))R_{1}(x)=\alpha(T(x)-T(x-1)) divides the polynomial
R2(x)=T(x)(G(x)G(x1))+G(x1)(T(x)T(x1)), R_{2}(x)=T(x)(G(x)-G(x-1))+G(x-1)(T(x)-T(x-1)),
we get R1(x)T(x)(G(x)G(x1))R_{1}(x) \mid T(x)(G(x)-G(x-1)). On the other hand,
gcd(T(x),R1(x))=gcd(T(x),T(x)T(x1))=gcd(T(x),T(x1))=1 \operatorname{gcd}\left(T(x), R_{1}(x)\right)=\operatorname{gcd}(T(x), T(x)-T(x-1))=\operatorname{gcd}(T(x), T(x-1))=1
since both T(x)T(x) and T(x1)T(x-1) are the products of linear polynomials, and their roots are distinct. Thus R1(x)G(x)G(x1)R_{1}(x) \mid G(x)-G(x-1). However, this is impossible since G(x)G(x1)G(x)-G(x-1) is a nonzero polynomial of degree less than n=degR1n=\operatorname{deg} R_{1}.

Thus, our assumption is wrong, and S(x)S(x) is a constant polynomial, say S(x)=βS(x)=\beta. Notice that the polynomials (2P(x)β)/α(2 P(x)-\beta) / \alpha and (2Q(x)β)/α(2 Q(x)-\beta) / \alpha are also block-similar and distinct. So we may replace the initial polynomials by these ones, thus obtaining two block-similar polynomials P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) with P(x)=Q(x)=T(x)T(x1)P(x)=-Q(x)=T(x)-T(x-1). It remains to show that this is impossible.

For every i=1,2,ni=1,2 \ldots, n, the values T(ikk+1)T(i k-k+1) and T(ik1)T(i k-1) have the same sign. This means that the values P(ikk+1)=T(ikk+1)P(i k-k+1)=T(i k-k+1) and P(ik)=T(ik1)P(i k)=-T(i k-1) have opposite signs, so P(x)P(x) has a root in each of the nn segments [ikk+1,ik][i k-k+1, i k]. Since degP=n\operatorname{deg} P=n, it must have exactly one root in each of them.

Thus, the sequence P(1),P(2),,P(k)P(1), P(2), \ldots, P(k) should change sign exactly once. On the other hand, since P(x)P(x) and P(x)-P(x) are block-similar, this sequence must have as many positive terms as negative ones. Since k=2+1k=2 \ell+1 is odd, this shows that the middle term of the sequence above must be zero, so P(+1)=0P(\ell+1)=0, or T(+1)=T()T(\ell+1)=T(\ell). However, this is not true since
T(+1)=+1i=2n+1ik<+1i=2nik=T(), |T(\ell+1)|=|\ell+1| \cdot|\ell| \cdot \prod_{i=2}^{n}|\ell+1-i k|<|\ell| \cdot|\ell+1| \cdot \prod_{i=2}^{n}|\ell-i k|=|T(\ell)|,
where the strict inequality holds because n2n \geqslant 2. We come to the final contradiction.

Solution 2

We provide an alternative argument for part (b).

Assume again that there exist two distinct block-similar polynomials P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) of degree nn. Let R(x)=P(x)Q(x)R(x)=P(x)-Q(x) and S(x)=P(x)+Q(x)S(x)=P(x)+Q(x). For brevity, we also denote the segment [(i1)k+1,ik][(i-1) k+1, i k] by IiI_{i}, and the set {(i1)k+1,(i1)k+2,,ik}\{(i-1) k+1,(i-1) k+2, \ldots, i k\} of all integer points in IiI_{i} by ZiZ_{i}.

Step 1. We prove that R(x)R(x) has exactly one root in each segment Ii,i=1,2,,nI_{i}, i=1,2, \ldots, n, and all these roots are simple.

Indeed, take any i{1,2,,n}i \in\{1,2, \ldots, n\} and choose some points p,p+Zip^{-}, p^{+} \in Z_{i} so that
P(p)=minxZiP(x) and P(p+)=maxxZiP(x) P\left(p^{-}\right)=\min _{x \in Z_{i}} P(x) \quad \text{ and } \quad P\left(p^{+}\right)=\max _{x \in Z_{i}} P(x)
Since the sequences of values of PP and QQ in ZiZ_{i} are permutations of each other, we have R(p)=P(p)Q(p)0R\left(p^{-}\right)=P\left(p^{-}\right)-Q\left(p^{-}\right) \leqslant 0 and R(p+)=P(p+)Q(p+)0R\left(p^{+}\right)=P\left(p^{+}\right)-Q\left(p^{+}\right) \geqslant 0. Since R(x)R(x) is continuous, there exists at least one root of R(x)R(x) between pp^{-} and p+p^{+} - thus in IiI_{i}.

So, R(x)R(x) has at least one root in each of the nn disjoint segments IiI_{i} with i=1,2,,ni=1,2, \ldots, n. Since R(x)R(x) is nonzero and its degree does not exceed nn, it should have exactly one root in each of these segments, and all these roots are simple, as required.

Step 2. We prove that S(x)S(x) is constant.

We start with the following claim.

Claim. For every i=1,2,,ni=1,2, \ldots, n, the sequence of values S((i1)k+1),S((i1)k+2),S((i-1) k+1), S((i-1) k+2), \ldots, S(ik)S(i k) cannot be strictly increasing.

Proof. Fix any i{1,2,,n}i \in\{1,2, \ldots, n\}. Due to the symmetry, we may assume that P(ik)Q(ik)P(i k) \leqslant Q(i k). Choose now pp^{-} and p+p^{+} as in Step 1. If we had P(p+)=P(p)P\left(p^{+}\right)=P\left(p^{-}\right), then PP would be constant on ZiZ_{i}, so all the elements of ZiZ_{i} would be the roots of R(x)R(x), which is not the case. In particular, we have p+pp^{+} \neq p^{-}. If p>p+p^{-}>p^{+}, then S(p)=P(p)+Q(p)Q(p+)+P(p+)=S(p+)S\left(p^{-}\right)=P\left(p^{-}\right)+Q\left(p^{-}\right) \leqslant Q\left(p^{+}\right)+P\left(p^{+}\right)=S\left(p^{+}\right), so our claim holds.

We now show that the remaining case p<p+p^{-}<p^{+} is impossible. Assume first that P(p+)>Q(p+)P\left(p^{+}\right)> Q\left(p^{+}\right). Then, like in Step 1, we have R(p)0,R(p+)>0R\left(p^{-}\right) \leqslant 0, R\left(p^{+}\right)>0, and R(ik)0R(i k) \leqslant 0, so R(x)R(x) has a root in each of the intervals [p,p+)\left[p^{-}, p^{+}\right) and (p+,ik]\left(p^{+}, i k\right]. This contradicts the result of Step 1.

We are left only with the case p<p+p^{-}<p^{+} and P(p+)=Q(p+)P\left(p^{+}\right)=Q\left(p^{+}\right) (thus p+p^{+} is the unique root of R(x)R(x) in IiI_{i} ). If p+=ikp^{+}=i k, then the values of R(x)R(x) on Zi\{ik}Z_{i} \backslash\{i k\} are all of the same sign, which is absurd since their sum is zero. Finally, if p<p+<ikp^{-}<p^{+}<i k, then R(p)R\left(p^{-}\right) and R(ik)R(i k) are both negative. This means that R(x)R(x) should have an even number of roots in [p,ik]\left[p^{-}, i k\right], counted with multiplicity. This also contradicts the result of Step 1.

In a similar way, one may prove that for every i=1,2,,ni=1,2, \ldots, n, the sequence S((i1)k+1)S((i-1) k+1), S((i1)k+2),,S(ik)S((i-1) k+2), \ldots, S(i k) cannot be strictly decreasing. This means that the polynomial ΔS(x)=S(x)S(x1)\Delta S(x)=S(x)-S(x-1) attains at least one nonnegative value, as well as at least one nonpositive value, on the set ZiZ_{i} (and even on Zi\{(i1)k+1}Z_{i} \backslash\{(i-1) k+1\} ); so ΔS\Delta S has a root in IiI_{i}.

Thus ΔS\Delta S has at least nn roots; however, its degree is less than nn, so ΔS\Delta S should be identically zero. This shows that S(x)S(x) is a constant, say S(x)βS(x) \equiv \beta.

Step 3. Notice that the polynomials P(x)β/2P(x)-\beta / 2 and Q(x)β/2Q(x)-\beta / 2 are also block-similar and distinct. So we may replace the initial polynomials by these ones, thus reaching P(x)=Q(x)P(x)=-Q(x).

Then R(x)=2P(x)R(x)=2 P(x), so P(x)P(x) has exactly one root in each of the segments Ii,i=1,2,,nI_{i}, i=1,2, \ldots, n. On the other hand, P(x)P(x) and P(x)-P(x) should attain the same number of positive values on ZiZ_{i}. Since kk is odd, this means that ZiZ_{i} contains exactly one root of P(x)P(x); moreover, this root should be at the center of ZiZ_{i}, because P(x)P(x) has the same number of positive and negative values on ZiZ_{i}.

Thus we have found all nn roots of P(x)P(x), so
P(x)=ci=1n(xik+) for some cR\{0} P(x)=c \prod_{i=1}^{n}(x-i k+\ell) \quad \text{ for some } c \in \mathbb{R} \backslash\{0\}
where =(k1)/2\ell=(k-1) / 2. It remains to notice that for every tZ1\{1}t \in Z_{1} \backslash\{1\} we have
P(t)=ct1i=2ntik+<ci=2n1ik+=P(1) |P(t)|=|c| \cdot|t-\ell-1| \cdot \prod_{i=2}^{n}|t-i k+\ell|<|c| \cdot \ell \cdot \prod_{i=2}^{n}|1-i k+\ell|=|P(1)|
so P(1)P(t)P(1) \neq-P(t) for all tZ1t \in Z_{1}. This shows that P(x)P(x) is not block-similar to P(x)-P(x). The final contradiction.

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