Let be a prime number and let , and be integers divisible by , such that the polynomial has at least two different integer roots. Show that divides and divides .
Solution
Let and be two different integer roots of . Then and . We know that divides , and . Since , divides . Similarly, we show that divides . As is a prime, it must divide and .
By subtracting the two equalities above we get or
Since , this implies . Now, is a prime and it divides , and , so divides , hence divides .
We know that . Since divides , divides and divides . Since also divides and divides , we can conclude that divides .
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