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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Prove it Belarus

Find all positive integers aa for which there exists a polynomial p(x)p(x) with integer coefficients such that
p(2+1)=22undp(2+2)=a. p(\sqrt{2} + 1) = 2 - \sqrt{2} \quad \text{und} \quad p(\sqrt{2} + 2) = a.

Solution

a=7k2a = 7k - 2 where kk is an arbitrary positive integer.

Suppose that the integer aa and the polynomial p(x)p(x) satisfy the condition. For the polynomial q(x)=p(x+1)q(x) = p(x + 1), the equalities from the condition have the form q(2)=22q(\sqrt{2}) = 2 - \sqrt{2} and q(1+2)=aq(1 + \sqrt{2}) = a. Since the coefficients of the polynomial q(x)q(x) are integers, the equality q(2)=2+2q(-\sqrt{2}) = 2 + \sqrt{2} is true. Therefore the numbers 2\sqrt{2} and 2-\sqrt{2} satisfy the equality q(x)=2xq(x) = 2 - x, i.e. they are roots of the polynomial q(x)+x2q(x) + x - 2. According to Bezout's theorem, the polynomial q(x)+x2q(x) + x - 2 is divisible by (x2)(x+2)=x22(x - \sqrt{2})(x + \sqrt{2}) = x^2 - 2. Let q(x)+x2=(x22)h(x)q(x) + x - 2 = (x^2 - 2)h(x), then the Gauss lemma implies that the rational coefficients of the polynomial h(x)h(x) are integers. Substitute into the resulting equality x=1+2x = 1 + \sqrt{2} and take into account that q(1+2)=aq(1 + \sqrt{2}) = a, after transformations we obtain the equality
a+21=(1+22)h(1+2).(1) a + \sqrt{2} - 1 = (1 + 2\sqrt{2}) \cdot h(1 + \sqrt{2}). \quad (1)
Since the coefficients of the polynomial h(x)h(x) are integers,
a21=(122)h(12). a - \sqrt{2} - 1 = (1 - 2\sqrt{2}) \cdot h(1 - \sqrt{2}).
Let's multiply this equality with (1):
(a1)22=7(h(1+2)h(12)). (a - 1)^2 - 2 = -7 \cdot (h(1 + \sqrt{2}) \cdot h(1 - \sqrt{2})).
Since the expression in brackets is a product of conjugate numbers, it is an integer, so (a1)22(a - 1)^2 - 2 is divisible by 77. This is equivalent to saying that aa is congruent to 44 or 55 modulo 77.

For the numbers a=7k+4a = 7k + 4, kZk \in \mathbb{Z}, equality (1) takes the form
7k+32=(1+22)h(1+2), 7k + 3 - \sqrt{2} = (1 + 2\sqrt{2}) \cdot h(1 + \sqrt{2}),
which is equivalent to
h(1+2)=7k+321+22=17k7+14k+572, h(1 + \sqrt{2}) = \frac{7k + 3 - \sqrt{2}}{1 + 2\sqrt{2}} = \frac{1 - 7k}{7} + \frac{14k + 5}{7} \cdot \sqrt{2},
which is impossible, since the coefficients h(x)h(x) are integers.

For numbers a=7k+5a = 7k + 5, kZk \in \mathbb{Z}, equality (1) takes the form
7k+42=(1+22)h(1+2), 7k + 4 - \sqrt{2} = (1 + 2\sqrt{2}) \cdot h(1 + \sqrt{2}),
which is equivalent to
h(1+2)=7k+421+22=(2k1)2k, h(1 + \sqrt{2}) = \frac{7k + 4 - \sqrt{2}}{1 + 2\sqrt{2}} = (2k - 1)\sqrt{2} - k,
therefore, one can choose the polynomial h(x)=(2k1)x(3k1)h(x) = (2k-1)x - (3k-1). Therefore, all such numbers satisfy the condition.

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