Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Let n>1n > 1 be an integer. Three complex numbers have the property that their sum is 00 and the sum of their nnth powers is also 00. Prove that two of the three numbers have the same absolute value.

Solution

Solution:
Given that
a+b+c=0andan+bn+cn=0, a + b + c = 0 \quad \text{and} \quad a^{n} + b^{n} + c^{n} = 0,
let
t=ab+bc+caandu=abc. t = ab + bc + ca \quad \text{and} \quad u = abc.
Then aa, bb, and cc are the roots of the polynomial
f(z)=(za)(zb)(zc)=z3+tzu. f(z) = (z - a)(z - b)(z - c) = z^{3} + t z - u.
If t=0t = 0, then aa, bb, and cc are the three cube roots of uu and thus all have the same absolute value; otherwise we can normalize, dividing aa, bb, and cc by a square root of tt, so that t=1t = 1. Now we have
f(z)=(za)(zb)(zc)=z3+zu. f(z) = (z - a)(z - b)(z - c) = z^{3} + z - u.
Define pk=ak+bk+ckp_{k} = a^{k} + b^{k} + c^{k} for nonnegative integers kk (here we make the convention that 00=10^{0} = 1). It is not hard to compute that p0=3p_{0} = 3, p1=0p_{1} = 0, p2=2p_{2} = -2, and, for k0k \geq 0,
pk+3=upkpk+1. p_{k+3} = u p_{k} - p_{k+1}.
This recursion allows us to think of each pkp_{k} as a polynomial (with integer coefficients) in uu. Our plan will be to prove that, for k>1k > 1, these polynomials have only real roots. Then, given that pn=0p_{n} = 0, we can deduce that f(z)f(z) is a real polynomial and therefore either has all real roots (which is impossible, since the sum of the 2nd powers of the roots is 2-2) or has a pair of complex conjugate roots which have the same absolute value.
The leading term of pkp_{k} follows a pattern which is not difficult to verify by induction. It is:
3uiif k=3i, i0ki2ui1if k=3i+1, i1kuiif k=3i+2, i0 \begin{array}{ll} 3 u^{i} & \text{if } k = 3i,\ i \geq 0 \\ \frac{k i}{2} u^{i-1} & \text{if } k = 3i + 1,\ i \geq 1 \\ -k u^{i} & \text{if } k = 3i + 2,\ i \geq 0 \end{array}
In particular, for k1k \neq 1, the leading coefficients of pkp_{k} and pk+3p_{k+3} have the same sign, and the degree of pk+3p_{k+3} is one more than the degree of pkp_{k}. We will prove that the roots of pkp_{k} alternate with the roots of pk+3p_{k+3} on the number line, with no two coinciding, beginning and ending with a root of pk+3p_{k+3}. When pkp_{k} is constant (that is, for k=0,2k = 0, 2, or 44) this statement is trivial, and we will use it as the base of an induction. For all other kk, the induction hypothesis tells us there is exactly one root of pk3p_{k-3} between each pair of roots of pkp_{k}, and it suffices to prove the following statement:
If pk=0, then pk+3 and pk3 have opposite signs. \text{If } p_{k} = 0, \text{ then } p_{k+3} \text{ and } p_{k-3} \text{ have opposite signs.}
For brevity we will prove this only when x=pk3x = p_{k-3} is positive and uu is also positive; the proof readily generalizes when one or both are negative. (By the induction hypothesis pk30p_{k-3} \neq 0, and if u=0u = 0 then (1) gives pk+3=pk+1=pk1=pk3p_{k+3} = -p_{k+1} = p_{k-1} = -p_{k-3} for k4k \geq 4.) Assume for contradiction that y=pk+30y = p_{k+3} \geq 0. Using (1) repeatedly, we get
pk+1=upkpk+3=ypk2=upk3pk=uxpk1=upk2pk+1=u2x+y \begin{gathered} p_{k+1} = u p_{k} - p_{k+3} = -y \\ p_{k-2} = u p_{k-3} - p_{k} = u x \\ p_{k-1} = u p_{k-2} - p_{k+1} = u^{2} x + y \end{gathered}
Note that pk1p_{k-1}, pk2p_{k-2}, pk3p_{k-3} are all positive. Then, using the reverse recursion
pi=pi+1+pi+3u p_{i} = \frac{p_{i+1} + p_{i+3}}{u}
we get that pi>0p_{i} > 0 for all i<ki < k. Since p2=2p_{2} = -2, this is a contradiction.

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