Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Slovenia

Let pp be a prime number and let aa, bb and cc be integers divisible by pp, such that the polynomial q(x)=x3+ax2+bx+cq(x) = x^3 + a x^2 + b x + c has at least two different integer roots. Show that p2p^2 divides bb and p3p^3 divides cc.

Solution

Let yy and zz be two different integer roots of qq. Then y3+ay2+by+c=0y^3 + a y^2 + b y + c = 0 and z3+az2+bz+c=0z^3 + a z^2 + b z + c = 0. We know that pp divides aa, bb and cc. Since y3=cbyay2y^3 = -c - b y - a y^2, pp divides y3y^3. Similarly, we show that pp divides z3z^3. As pp is a prime, it must divide yy and zz.

By subtracting the two equalities above we get y3z3+a(y2z2)+b(yz)=0y^3 - z^3 + a(y^2 - z^2) + b(y - z) = 0 or
(yz)(y2+yz+z2+a(y+z)+b)=0. (y - z)(y^2 + y z + z^2 + a(y + z) + b) = 0.
Since zyz \neq y, this implies y2+yz+z2+a(y+z)+b=0y^2 + y z + z^2 + a(y + z) + b = 0. Now, pp is a prime and it divides yy, zz and aa, so p2p^2 divides y2+yz+z2+a(y+z)=by^2 + y z + z^2 + a(y + z) = -b, hence p2p^2 divides bb.

We know that c=y3ay2byc = -y^3 - a y^2 - b y. Since pp divides yy, p2p^2 divides y2y^2 and p3p^3 divides y3y^3. Since pp also divides aa and p2p^2 divides bb, we can conclude that p3p^3 divides cc.

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