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Algebra Difficulty 7.4 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Canada

Problem:
Find all polynomials p(x)p(x) with real coefficients that have the following property: There exists a polynomial q(x)q(x) with real coefficients such that
p(1)+p(2)+p(3)++p(n)=p(n)q(n) p(1)+p(2)+p(3)+\cdots+p(n)=p(n) q(n)
for all positive integers nn.

Solution

Solution:
The property clearly holds whenever p(x)p(x) is a constant polynomial, since we can take q(x)=xq(x)=x. Assume henceforth that p(x)p(x) is nonconstant and has the stated property. Let dd be the degree of p(x)p(x), so p(x)p(x) is of the form
p(x)=cxd+. p(x)=c x^{d}+\cdots .
By a Lemma (which we will prove at the end), k=1nkd\sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{d} is a polynomial in nn of degree d+1d+1, so p(1)+p(2)++p(n)p(1)+p(2)+\cdots+p(n) is a polynomial in nn of degree d+1d+1. Hence, q(n)q(n) is a polynomial of degree 1. Furthermore, the coefficient of nd+1n^{d+1} in k=1nkd\sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{d} is 1d+1\frac{1}{d+1}, so the coefficient of nn in q(n)q(n) is also 1d+1\frac{1}{d+1}. Let q(x)=1d+1(x+r)q(x)=\frac{1}{d+1}(x+r). We have that
p(1)+p(2)+p(3)++p(n)=p(n)q(n) p(1)+p(2)+p(3)+\cdots+p(n)=p(n) q(n)
and
p(1)+p(2)+p(3)++p(n)+p(n+1)=p(n+1)q(n+1). p(1)+p(2)+p(3)+\cdots+p(n)+p(n+1)=p(n+1) q(n+1) \text{.}
Subtracting the first equation from the second, we get
p(n+1)=p(n+1)q(n+1)p(n)q(n), p(n+1)=p(n+1) q(n+1)-p(n) q(n),
and hence
p(n)q(n)=p(n+1)[q(n+1)1]. p(n) q(n)=p(n+1)[q(n+1)-1] .
Since this holds for all positive integers nn, it follows that
p(x)q(x)=p(x+1)[q(x+1)1] p(x) q(x)=p(x+1)[q(x+1)-1]
for all real numbers xx. We can then write
p(x)1d+1(x+r)=p(x+1)[1d+1(x+r+1)1] p(x) \cdot \frac{1}{d+1}(x+r)=p(x+1)\left[\frac{1}{d+1}(x+r+1)-1\right]
so
(x+r)p(x)=(x+rd)p(x+1). (x+r) p(x)=(x+r-d) p(x+1) .
Setting x=rx=-r, we get
(d)p(r+1)=0 (-d) p(-r+1)=0
Hence, r+1-r+1 is a root of p(x)p(x). Let p(x)=(x+r1)p1(x)p(x)=(x+r-1) p_{1}(x). Then
(x+r)(x+r1)p1(x)=(x+rd)(x+r)p1(x+1), (x+r)(x+r-1) p_{1}(x)=(x+r-d)(x+r) p_{1}(x+1),
so
(x+r1)p1(x)=(x+rd)p1(x+1). (x+r-1) p_{1}(x)=(x+r-d) p_{1}(x+1) .
If d=1d=1, then p1(x)p_{1}(x) is a constant, so both sides are equal, and we can say p(x)=c(x+r1)p(x)=c(x+r-1).
Otherwise, setting x=r+1x=-r+1, we get
(1d)p1(r+2)=0 (1-d) p_{1}(-r+2)=0
Hence, r+2-r+2 is a root of p1(x)p_{1}(x). Let p1(x)=(x+r2)p2(x)p_{1}(x)=(x+r-2) p_{2}(x). Then
(xr1)(x+r2)p2(x)=(x+rd)(x+r1)p2(x+1), (x-r-1)(x+r-2) p_{2}(x)=(x+r-d)(x+r-1) p_{2}(x+1),
so
(x+r2)p2(x)=(x+rd)p2(x+1). (x+r-2) p_{2}(x)=(x+r-d) p_{2}(x+1) \text{.}
If d=2d=2, then p2(x)p_{2}(x) is a constant, so both sides are equal, and we can say p(x)=c(x+r1)(x+r2)p(x)=c(x+r-1)(x+r-2).
Otherwise, we can continue to substitute, giving us
p(x)=c(x+r1)(x+r2)(x+rd). p(x)=c(x+r-1)(x+r-2) \cdots(x+r-d) .
Conversely, if p(x)p(x) is of this form, then
p(x)=c(x+r1)(x+r2)(x+rd)=c(d+1)(x+r1)(x+r2)(x+rd)d+1=c[(x+r)(x+rd1)](x+r1)(x+r2)(x+rd)d+1=c(x+r)(x+r1)(x+r2)(x+rd)d+1c(x+r1)(x+r2)(x+rd)(x+rd1)d+1. \begin{aligned} p(x)= & c(x+r-1)(x+r-2) \cdots(x+r-d) \\ = & \frac{c(d+1)(x+r-1)(x+r-2) \cdots(x+r-d)}{d+1} \\ = & \frac{c[(x+r)-(x+r-d-1)](x+r-1)(x+r-2) \cdots(x+r-d)}{d+1} \\ = & \frac{c(x+r)(x+r-1)(x+r-2) \cdots(x+r-d)}{d+1} \\ & -\frac{c(x+r-1)(x+r-2) \cdots(x+r-d)(x+r-d-1)}{d+1} . \end{aligned}
Then the sum p(1)+p(2)+p(3)++p(n)p(1)+p(2)+p(3)+\cdots+p(n) telescopes, and we are left with
p(1)+p(2)+p(3)++p(n)=c(n+r)(n+r1)(n+r2)(n+rd)d+1c(r)(r1)(rd+1)(rd)d+1. \begin{aligned} p(1)+p(2)+p(3)+\cdots+p(n)= & \frac{c(n+r)(n+r-1)(n+r-2) \cdots(n+r-d)}{d+1} \\ & -\frac{c(r)(r-1) \cdots(r-d+1)(r-d)}{d+1} . \end{aligned}
We want this to be of the form
p(n)q(n)=c(n+r1)(n+r2)(n+rd)q(n) p(n) q(n)=c(n+r-1)(n+r-2) \cdots(n+r-d) q(n)
for some polynomial q(n)q(n). The only way that this can hold for each positive integer nn is if the term
c(r)(r1)(rd+1)(rd)d+1 \frac{c(r)(r-1) \cdots(r-d+1)(r-d)}{d+1}
is equal to 0 . This means rr has to be one of the values 0,1,2,,d0,1,2, \ldots, d. Therefore, the polynomials we seek are of the form
p(x)=c(x+r1)(x+r2)(x+rd) p(x)=c(x+r-1)(x+r-2) \cdots(x+r-d)
where r{0,1,2,,d}r \in\{0,1,2, \ldots, d\}.

Lemma. For a positive integer dd,
k=1nkd \sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{d}
is a polynomial in nn of degree d+1d+1. Furthermore, the coefficient of nd+1n^{d+1} is 1d+1\frac{1}{d+1}.

Proof. We prove the result by strong induction. For d=1d=1,
k=1nk=12n2+12n \sum_{k=1}^{n} k=\frac{1}{2} n^{2}+\frac{1}{2} n
so the result holds. Assume that the result holds for d=1,2,3,,md=1,2,3, \ldots, m, for some positive integer mm. By the Binomial Theorem,
(k+1)m+2km+2=(m+2)km+1+cmkm+cm1km1++c1k+c0, (k+1)^{m+2}-k^{m+2}=(m+2) k^{m+1}+c_{m} k^{m}+c_{m-1} k^{m-1}+\cdots+c_{1} k+c_{0},
for some coefficients cm,cm1,,c1,c0c_{m}, c_{m-1}, \ldots, c_{1}, c_{0}. Summing over 1kn1 \leq k \leq n, we get
(n+1)m+21=(m+2)k=1nkm+1+cmk=1nkm++c1k=1nk+c0n. (n+1)^{m+2}-1=(m+2) \sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{m+1}+c_{m} \sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{m}+\cdots+c_{1} \sum_{k=1}^{n} k+c_{0} n .
Then
k=1nkm+1=(n+1)m+2cmk=1nkmc1k=1nkc0n1m+2. \sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{m+1}=\frac{(n+1)^{m+2}-c_{m} \sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{m}-\cdots-c_{1} \sum_{k=1}^{n} k-c_{0} n-1}{m+2} .
By the induction hypothesis, the sums k=1nkm,,k=1nk\sum_{k=1}^{n} k^{m}, \ldots, \sum_{k=1}^{n} k are all polynomials in nn of degree less than m+2m+2. Hence, the above expression is a polynomial in nn of degree m+2m+2, and the coefficient of nm+2n^{m+2} is 1m+2\frac{1}{m+2}. Thus, the result holds for d=m+1d=m+1, which completes the induction step.

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