Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it United States

Problem:

Find, with proof, all nonconstant polynomials P(x)P(x) with real coefficients such that, for all nonzero real numbers zz with P(z)0P(z) \neq 0 and P(1z)0P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right) \neq 0, we have
1P(z)+1P(1z)=z+1z \frac{1}{P(z)}+\frac{1}{P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)}=z+\frac{1}{z}

Solution

Solution:

It is straightforward to plug in and verify the above answers. Hence, we focus on showing that these are all possible solutions. The key claim is the following.

Claim: If r0r \neq 0 is a root of P(z)P(z) with multiplicity nn, then 1/r1 / r is also a root of P(z)P(z) with multiplicity nn.

Proof 1 (Elementary). Let nn' be the multiplicity of 1/r1 / r. It suffices to show that nnn \leq n' because we can apply the same assertion on 1/r1 / r to obtain that nnn' \leq n.
To that end, suppose that (zr)n(z-r)^n divides P(z)P(z). From the equation, we have
zN[P(1z)+P(z)]=zN[(z+1z)P(z)P(1z)] z^{N}\left[P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)+P(z)\right]=z^{N}\left[\left(z+\frac{1}{z}\right) P(z) P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)\right]
where NdegP+1N \gg \operatorname{deg} P+1 to guarantee that both sides are polynomial. Notice that the factor zNP(z)z^{N} P(z) and the right-hand side is divisible by (zr)n(z-r)^n, so (zr)n(z-r)^n must also divide zNP(1z)z^{N} P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right). This means that there exists a polynomial Q(z)Q(z) such that zNP(1z)=(zr)nQ(z)z^{N} P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)=(z-r)^n Q(z). Replacing zz with 1z\frac{1}{z}, we get
P(z)zN=(1zr)nQ(1z)P(z)=zNn(1rz)nQ(1z) \frac{P(z)}{z^{N}}=\left(\frac{1}{z}-r\right)^n Q\left(\frac{1}{z}\right) \Longrightarrow P(z)=z^{N-n}(1-r z)^n Q\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)
implying that P(z)P(z) is divisible by (z1/r)n(z-1 / r)^n.

Proof 2 (Complex Analysis). Here is more advanced proof of the main claim.
View both sides of the equations as meromorphic functions in the complex plane. Then, a root rr with multiplicity nn of P(z)P(z) is a pole of 1P(z)\frac{1}{P(z)} of order nn. Since the right-hand side is analytic around rr, it follows that the other term 1P(1/z)\frac{1}{P(1 / z)} has a pole at rr with order nn as well. By replacing zz with 1/z1 / z, we find that 1P(z)\frac{1}{P(z)} has a pole at 1/r1 / r of order nn. This finishes the claim.

The claim implies that there exists an integer kk and a constant ϵ\epsilon such that
P(z)=ϵzkP(1z) P(z)=\epsilon z^{k} P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)
By replacing zz with 1/z1 / z, we get that
zkP(1z)=ϵP(z) z^{k} P\left(\frac{1}{z}\right)=\epsilon P(z)
Therefore, ϵ=±1\epsilon= \pm 1. Moreover, using the main equation, we get that
1P(z)+ϵzkP(z)=z+1zP(z)=z(1+ϵzk)1+z2 \frac{1}{P(z)}+\frac{\epsilon z^{k}}{P(z)}=z+\frac{1}{z} \Longrightarrow P(z)=\frac{z\left(1+\epsilon z^{k}\right)}{1+z^{2}}
This is a polynomial if and only if (ϵ=1(\epsilon=1 and k2(mod4))k \equiv 2(\bmod 4)) or (ϵ=1(\epsilon=-1 and k0(mod4))k \equiv 0(\bmod 4)), so we are done.

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