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Slovenian Mathematical Olympiad, 2008

Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Slovenia

Find all prime numbers pp such that the polynomial
q(x)=2x3−2px2+(1−p)x+p q(x) = 2x^3 - 2p x^2 + (1-p)x + p
has at least one rational root.

Solution

If p=2p = 2, we have q(x)=2x3−4x2−x+2=(x−2)(2x2−1)q(x) = 2x^3 - 4x^2 - x + 2 = (x-2)(2x^2 - 1) and x=2x = 2 is a rational root. Now, let pp be an odd prime. The only possible candidates for rational roots are ±1,±p,±12\pm 1, \pm p, \pm \frac{1}{2} and ±p2\pm \frac{p}{2}. Let us consider all possible cases.
Since q(1)=3−2pq(1) = 3 - 2p and 3−2p3 - 2p is odd, we have q(1)≠0q(1) \neq 0. Evidently, q(−1)=−3≠0q(-1) = -3 \neq 0. The expression q(−p)=−p2+2p=p(2−p)q(-p) = -p^2 + 2p = p(2-p) is non-zero because p≠2p \neq 2. Similarly, q(p)=−4p3+p2=p2(1−4p)≠0q(p) = -4p^3 + p^2 = p^2(1-4p) \neq 0 and q(12)=34≠0q(\frac{1}{2}) = \frac{3}{4} \neq 0. It is also easy to check that q(−12)=p−34≠0q(-\frac{1}{2}) = p - \frac{3}{4} \neq 0 and q(p2)=−p3−2p2+6p4q(\frac{p}{2}) = \frac{-p^3-2p^2+6p}{4}. Since pp is odd, the denominator of this last expression is also odd, so this expression is non-zero. The same argument shows that q(−p2)=−3p3+2p2+2p4≠0q(-\frac{p}{2}) = \frac{-3p^3+2p^2+2p}{4} \neq 0.
Thus, if pp is an odd prime, the polynomial qq has no rational roots. The only solution is p=2p = 2.

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