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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Iran

A polynomial S(x)R[x]S(x) \in \mathbb{R}[x] is "simple" if it is divisible by xx but not by x2x^2. For the polynomial P(x)R[x]P(x) \in \mathbb{R}[x], we know that there exists a simple polynomial Q(x)Q(x) such that P(Q(x))Q(2x)P(Q(x)) - Q(2x) is divisible by x2x^2. Prove that there exists a simple polynomial R(x)R(x) such that P(R(x))R(2x)P(R(x)) - R(2x) is divisible by x1401x^{1401}.

Solution

We prove this statement by induction. The base is clear, by the induction hypothesis assumes that
xn1P(Rn1(x))Rn1(2x) x^{n-1}|P(R_{n-1}(x)) - R_{n-1}(2x)
if it is also divisible by xnx^n then we are done. Otherwise, set Rn(x)=Rn1(x)+axn1R_n(x) = R_{n-1}(x) + a x^{n-1}. Then Rn(x)Rn1(x)(modxn1)R_n(x) \equiv R_{n-1}(x) \pmod{x^{n-1}} and so we have
xn1P(Rn(x))Rn(2x) x^{n-1}|P(R_n(x)) - R_n(2x)
Assume that P(x)=ajxjP(x) = \sum a_j x^j, Rn1(x)=bjxjR_{n-1}(x) = \sum b_j x^j, then the coefficient of xn1x^{n-1} in P(Rn(x))Rn(2x)P(R_n(x)) - R_n(2x) is equal to aa12n1a+f(a2,,an,bj)a a_1 - 2^{n-1} a + f(a_2, \dots, a_n, b_j); we can set a=fa12n1a = \frac{-f}{a_1 - 2^{n-1}} unless a1=2n1a_1 = 2^{n-1}, so we have to show that this does not happen.
If we set x=0x = 0 in the hypothesis we get P(0)=0P(0) = 0, and if we check the coefficient of xx in P(Q(x))Q(2x)P(Q(x)) - Q(2x) we get a1b12b1=0a_1 b_1 - 2 b_1 = 0 but we know that b10b_1 \ne 0 so we should have a1=2a_1 = 2 which means that a12n1a_1 \ne 2^{n-1} for n3n \ge 3.

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