Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Find at least one non-zero polynomial P(x,y,z)P(x, y, z) such that P(a,b,c)=0P(a, b, c)=0 for every three real numbers that satisfy a3+b3=c3\sqrt[3]{a}+\sqrt[3]{b}=\sqrt[3]{c}.

Solution

Solution:
Cube both sides of the condition x3+y3=z3\sqrt[3]{x}+\sqrt[3]{y}=\sqrt[3]{z}:
x+3x3x3y3+3x3y3y3+y=z3x3x3y3+x3y3y3=zxy3x3y3(x3+y3)=zxy \begin{gathered} x+3 \sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{y}+3 \sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{y} \sqrt[3]{y}+y=z \\ 3 \sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{y}+\sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{y} \sqrt[3]{y}=z-x-y \\ 3 \sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{y}(\sqrt[3]{x}+\sqrt[3]{y})=z-x-y \end{gathered}
But since x3+y3=z3\sqrt[3]{x}+\sqrt[3]{y}=\sqrt[3]{z}
3x3y3z3=zxy27xyz=(zxy)3 \begin{gathered} 3 \sqrt[3]{x} \sqrt[3]{y} \sqrt[3]{z}=z-x-y \\ 27 x y z=(z-x-y)^{3} \end{gathered}
Hence P(x,y,z)=27xyz(zxy)3P(x, y, z)=27 x y z-(z-x-y)^{3} is one such polynomial.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.