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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Hong Kong

Is it possible to find a non-constant polynomial P(x,y)P(x, y) such that P([α],[3α])=0P([\alpha], [3\alpha]) = 0 for every real number α\alpha? (Here [μ][\mu] stands for the largest integer less than or equal to μ\mu.)

Solution

Yes. We claim that P(x,y)=(y3x)(y3x1)(y3x2)P(x, y) = (y - 3x)(y - 3x - 1)(y - 3x - 2) satisfies the conditions. Clearly, it is a non-constant polynomial. For any real number α\alpha, let n=αn = \lfloor \alpha \rfloor. Then we have nα<n+1n \le \alpha < n + 1 and hence 3n3α<3n+33n \le 3\alpha < 3n + 3. This shows 3α=3n,3n+1,3n+2\lfloor 3\alpha \rfloor = 3n, 3n + 1, 3n + 2. Therefore, one of 3α3α\lfloor 3\alpha \rfloor - 3\lfloor \alpha \rfloor, 3α3α1\lfloor 3\alpha \rfloor - 3\lfloor \alpha \rfloor - 1 and 3α3α2\lfloor 3\alpha \rfloor - 3\lfloor \alpha \rfloor - 2 must be 0. This shows P(α,3α)=0P(\lfloor \alpha \rfloor, \lfloor 3\alpha \rfloor) = 0 for all αR\alpha \in \mathbb{R}.

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