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Algebra Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it Taiwan

Fix a finite set SS of integers. Is there a polynomial f(x)f(x) of integral coefficients such that for all integers xx, f(x)f(x) is a perfect square if and only if xSx \in S?

Solution

Consider the polynomial f(x)=(g(x))2+(x2+1)2f(x) = (g(x))^2 + (x^2 + 1)^2. If g(x)=0g(x) = 0 holds for all xSx \in S, then f(x)f(x) is a perfect square. If g(x)>(x2+1)2g(x) > (x^2 + 1)^2 holds for all xZSx \in \mathbb{Z} \setminus S, then (g(x))2<f(x)<(g(x)+1)2(g(x))^2 < f(x) < (g(x) + 1)^2, that is to say f(x)f(x) is not a perfect square. Thus we may take g(x)=MSsS(xs)10g(x) = M_S \prod_{s \in S} (x-s)^{10}, where MSM_S is a sufficiently large constant such that g(x)>(x2+1)2g(x) > (x^2+1)^2 holds for all xZSx \in \mathbb{Z} \setminus S. Since the degree of gg is greater than 4, MSM_S exists. \square

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.