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Algebra Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it IMO

Let m≠0m \neq 0 be an integer. Find all polynomials P(x)P(x) with real coefficients such that
(x3−mx2+1)P(x+1)+(x3+mx2+1)P(x−1)=2(x3−mx+1)P(x) \left(x^{3}-m x^{2}+1\right) P(x+1)+\left(x^{3}+m x^{2}+1\right) P(x-1)=2\left(x^{3}-m x+1\right) P(x)
for all real numbers xx.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Let P(x)=anxn+⋯+a0x0P(x)=a_{n} x^{n}+\cdots+a_{0} x^{0} with an≠0a_{n} \neq 0. Comparing the coefficients of xn+1x^{n+1} on both sides gives an(n−2m)(n−1)=0a_{n}(n-2 m)(n-1)=0, so n=1n=1 or n=2mn=2 m.
If n=1n=1, one easily verifies that P(x)=xP(x)=x is a solution, while P(x)=1P(x)=1 is not. Since the given condition is linear in PP, this means that the linear solutions are precisely P(x)=txP(x)=t x for t∈Rt \in \mathbb{R}.
Now assume that n=2mn=2 m. The polynomial xP(x+1)−(x+1)P(x)=(n−1)anxn+⋯x P(x+1)-(x+1) P(x)=(n-1) a_{n} x^{n}+\cdots has degree nn, and therefore it has at least one (possibly complex) root rr. If r∉{0,−1}r \notin\{0,-1\}, define k=P(r)/r=P(r+1)/(r+1)k=P(r) / r=P(r+1) /(r+1). If r=0r=0, let k=P(1)k=P(1). If r=−1r=-1, let k=−P(−1)k=-P(-1). We now consider the polynomial S(x)=P(x)−kxS(x)=P(x)-k x. It also satisfies (1) because P(x)P(x) and kxk x satisfy it. Additionally, it has the useful property that rr and r+1r+1 are roots.
Let A(x)=x3−mx2+1A(x)=x^{3}-m x^{2}+1 and B(x)=x3+mx2+1B(x)=x^{3}+m x^{2}+1. Plugging in x=sx=s into (1) implies that:
If s−1s-1 and ss are roots of SS and ss is not a root of AA, then s+1s+1 is a root of SS.
If ss and s+1s+1 are roots of SS and ss is not a root of BB, then s−1s-1 is a root of SS.
Let a⩾0a \geqslant 0 and b⩾1b \geqslant 1 be such that r−a,r−a+1,…,r,r+1,…,r+b−1,r+br-a, r-a+1, \ldots, r, r+1, \ldots, r+b-1, r+b are roots of SS, while r−a−1r-a-1 and r+b+1r+b+1 are not. The two statements above imply that r−ar-a is a root of BB and r+br+b is a root of AA.
Since r−ar-a is a root of B(x)B(x) and of A(x+a+b)A(x+a+b), it is also a root of their greatest common divisor C(x)C(x) as integer polynomials. If C(x)C(x) was a non-trivial divisor of B(x)B(x), then BB would have a rational root α\alpha. Since the first and last coefficients of BB are 1,α1, \alpha can only be 1 or -1 ; but B(−1)=m>0B(-1)=m>0 and B(1)=m+2>0B(1)=m+2>0 since n=2mn=2 m.
Therefore B(x)=A(x+a+b)B(x)=A(x+a+b). Writing c=a+b⩾1c=a+b \geqslant 1 we compute
0=A(x+c)−B(x)=(3c−2m)x2+c(3c−2m)x+c2(c−m). 0=A(x+c)-B(x)=(3 c-2 m) x^{2}+c(3 c-2 m) x+c^{2}(c-m) .
Then we must have 3c−2m=c−m=03 c-2 m=c-m=0, which gives m=0m=0, a contradiction. We conclude that f(x)=txf(x)=t x is the only solution.

Solution 2

Multiplying (1) by xx, we rewrite it as
x(x3−mx2+1)P(x+1)+x(x3+mx2+1)P(x−1)=[(x+1)+(x−1)](x3−mx+1)P(x). x\left(x^{3}-m x^{2}+1\right) P(x+1)+x\left(x^{3}+m x^{2}+1\right) P(x-1)=[(x+1)+(x-1)]\left(x^{3}-m x+1\right) P(x) .
After regrouping, it becomes
(x3−mx2+1)Q(x)=(x3+mx2+1)Q(x−1), \begin{equation*} \left(x^{3}-m x^{2}+1\right) Q(x)=\left(x^{3}+m x^{2}+1\right) Q(x-1), \tag{2} \end{equation*}
where Q(x)=xP(x+1)−(x+1)P(x)Q(x)=x P(x+1)-(x+1) P(x). If deg⁡P⩾2\operatorname{deg} P \geqslant 2 then deg⁡Q=deg⁡P\operatorname{deg} Q=\operatorname{deg} P, so Q(x)Q(x) has a finite multiset of complex roots, which we denote RQR_{Q}. Each root is taken with its multiplicity. Then the multiset of complex roots of Q(x−1)Q(x-1) is RQ+1={z+1:z∈RQ}R_{Q}+1=\{z+1: z \in R_{Q}\}.
Let {x1,x2,x3}\{x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}\} and {y1,y2,y3}\{y_{1}, y_{2}, y_{3}\} be the multisets of roots of the polynomials A(x)=x3−mx2+1A(x)=x^{3}-m x^{2}+1 and B(x)=x3+mx2+1B(x)=x^{3}+m x^{2}+1, respectively. From (2) we get the equality of multisets
{x1,x2,x3}∪RQ={y1,y2,y3}∪(RQ+1). \{x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}\} \cup R_{Q}=\{y_{1}, y_{2}, y_{3}\} \cup(R_{Q}+1) .
For every r∈RQr \in R_{Q}, since r+1r+1 is in the set of the right hand side, we must have r+1∈RQr+1 \in R_{Q} or r+1=xir+1=x_{i} for some ii. Similarly, since rr is in the set of the left hand side, either r−1∈RQr-1 \in R_{Q} or r=yir=y_{i} for some ii. This implies that, possibly after relabelling y1,y2,y3y_{1}, y_{2}, y_{3}, all the roots of (2) may be partitioned into three chains of the form {yi,yi+1,…,yi+ki=xi}\{y_{i}, y_{i}+1, \ldots, y_{i}+k_{i}=x_{i}\} for i=1,2,3i=1,2,3 and some integers k1,k2,k3⩾0k_{1}, k_{2}, k_{3} \geqslant 0.
Now we analyze the roots of the polynomial Aa(x)=x3+ax2+1A_{a}(x)=x^{3}+a x^{2}+1. Using calculus or elementary methods, we find that the local extrema of Aa(x)A_{a}(x) occur at x=0x=0 and x=−2a/3x=-2 a / 3; their values are Aa(0)=1>0A_{a}(0)=1>0 and Aa(−2a/3)=1+4a3/27A_{a}(-2 a / 3)=1+4 a^{3} / 27, which is positive for integers a⩾−1a \geqslant-1 and negative for integers a⩽−2a \leqslant-2. So when a∈Z,Aaa \in \mathbb{Z}, A_{a} has three real roots if a⩽−2a \leqslant-2 and one if a⩾−1a \geqslant-1.
Now, since yi−xi∈Zy_{i}-x_{i} \in \mathbb{Z} for i=1,2,3i=1,2,3, the cubics AmA_{m} and A−mA_{-m} must have the same number of real roots. The previous analysis then implies that m=1m=1 or m=−1m=-1. Therefore the real root α\alpha of A1(x)=x3+x2+1A_{1}(x)=x^{3}+x^{2}+1 and the real root β\beta of A−1(x)=x3−x2+1A_{-1}(x)=x^{3}-x^{2}+1 must differ by an integer. But this is impossible, because A1(−32)=−18A_{1}\left(-\frac{3}{2}\right)=-\frac{1}{8} and A1(−1)=1A_{1}(-1)=1 so −1.5<α<−1-1.5<\alpha<-1, while A−1(−1)=−1A_{-1}(-1)=-1 and A−1(−12)=58A_{-1}\left(-\frac{1}{2}\right)=\frac{5}{8}, so −1<β<−0.5-1<\beta<-0.5.
It follows that deg⁡P⩽1\operatorname{deg} P \leqslant 1. Then, as shown in Solution 1, we conclude that the solutions are P(x)=txP(x)=t x for all real numbers tt.

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