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Algebra Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Determine the complex numbers zz și ww with the property that
z2n+znwn+w2n=22n+2n+1, |z^{2n} + z^n w^n + w^{2n}| = 2^{2n} + 2^n + 1,
for any positive integer nn.

Solution

Applying the modulus to both members of the identity (z2+zw+w2)(z2zw+w2)=z4+z2w2+w4(z^2 + zw + w^2) \cdot (z^2 - zw + w^2) = z^4 + z^2w^2 + w^4 and, using the problem hypothesis, we obtain that z2zw+w2=3|z^2 - zw + w^2| = 3.

Applying the modulus to both members of the identity (z4+z2w2+w4)(z4z2w2+w4)=z8+z4w4+w8(z^4 + z^2w^2 + w^4) \cdot (z^4 - z^2w^2 + w^4) = z^8 + z^4w^4 + w^8 and, using the problem hypothesis, we obtain that z4z2w2+w4=13|z^4 - z^2w^2 + w^4| = 13.

Applying the modulus to both members of the identity 12(z2+zw+w2)2+12(z2zw+w2)2+(z4z2w2+w4)=2(z4+z2w2+w4)\frac{1}{2}(z^2 + zw + w^2)^2 + \frac{1}{2}(z^2 - zw + w^2)^2 + (z^4 - z^2w^2 + w^4) = 2(z^4 + z^2w^2 + w^4), using the modulus inequality and the above, we obtain that 1249+129+13221\frac{1}{2} \cdot 49 + \frac{1}{2} \cdot 9 + 13 \ge 2 \cdot 21.
We observe that equality holds, therefore there is a real number tt such that (z2+zw+w2)2=t2(z2zw+w2)2(z^2 + zw + w^2)^2 = t^2(z^2 - zw + w^2)^2. Moving to the modules, we find t=±73t = \pm\frac{7}{3}, so 3(z2+zw+w2)=±7(z2zw+w2)3(z^2 + zw + w^2) = \pm 7(z^2 - zw + w^2).
For t=73t = \frac{7}{3} we obtain 2z25zw+2w2=0(2zw)(z2w)=02z^2 - 5zw + 2w^2 = 0 \Leftrightarrow (2z - w)(z - 2w) = 0. It follows that w=2zw = 2z or z=2wz = 2w. Substituting in z2+zw+w2=7|z^2 + zw + w^2| = 7, in the first case we obtain z=1|z| = 1, and in the second w=1|w| = 1.
For t=73t = -\frac{7}{3} we obtain 5z22zw+5w2=0(φzw)(zφw)=05z^2 - 2zw + 5w^2 = 0 \Leftrightarrow (\varphi z - w)(z - \varphi w) = 0, where φ=1+26i5\varphi = \frac{1+2\sqrt{6i}}{5}, 5φ22φ+5=05\varphi^2 - 2\varphi + 5 = 0, φ=1|\varphi| = 1. Thus w=φzw = \varphi z or z=φwz = \varphi w. Substituting in z2+zw+w2=7|z^2 + zw + w^2| = 7, in the first case we obtain z=5|z| = \sqrt{5}, and in the second w=5|w| = \sqrt{5}. None of these options are suitable, because they contradict equality z4z2w2+w4=13|z^4 - z^2w^2 + w^4| = 13.

It is easy to verify that all pairs of the form (z,2z)(z, 2z) and (2z,z)(2z, z), where zz is a complex number with modulus equal to 1, have the property in the statement.

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