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Algebra Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Saudi Arabia

For each non-constant integer polynomial P(x)P(x), let's define
MP(x)=maxx[0;2021]P(x). M_{P(x)} = \max_{x \in [0; 2021]} |P(x)|.
1. Find the minimum value of MP(x)M_{P(x)} when degP(x)=1\deg P(x) = 1.
2. Suppose that P(x)Z[x]P(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] when degP(x)=n\deg P(x) = n and 2n20222 \le n \le 2022. Prove that MP(x)1011M_{P(x)} \ge 1011.

Solution

1) Since degP=1\deg P = 1, put P(x)=ax+bP(x) = ax + b with a,bZa, b \in \mathbb{Z} and a0a \neq 0. Note that
P(2021)P(0)=2021a2021max{P(2021),P(0)}20212. |P(2021) - P(0)| = |2021a| \ge 2021 \Rightarrow \max\{|P(2021)|, |P(0)|\} \ge \frac{2021}{2}.
Thus, P(2021)P(0)=2021a2021|P(2021) - P(0)| = |2021a| \ge 2021 which implies that
max{P(2021),P(0)}20212max{P(2021),P(0)}1011. \max\{|P(2021)|, |P(0)|\} \ge \frac{2021}{2} \Rightarrow \max\{|P(2021)|, |P(0)|\} \ge 1011.
On the other hand, T(x)=x1011T(x) = x - 1011 satisfies the condition T(x)1011,x[0;2021]|T(x)| \le 1011, \forall x \in [0; 2021]. Hence, the minimum value of MP(x)M_{P(x)} is 10111011, the equality holds when P(x)=x1011P(x) = x - 1011.

2) Suppose that there is some integer polynomial P(x)P(x) with
2degP2022 and MP(x)<1011. 2 \le \deg P \le 2022 \text{ and } M_{P(x)} < 1011.
One can see that P(x)<1011,x[0;2021]|P(x)| < 1011, \forall x \in [0; 2021] thus P(x)1010,x[0;2021]Z|P(x)| \le 1010, \forall x \in [0; 2021] \cap \mathbb{Z}. By the property of integer polynomials, 2021P(2021)P(0)2021|P(2021) - P(0) so P(2021)=P(0)P(2021) = P(0) which leads to
P(2021)P(0)P(0)+P(2021)2020. |P(2021) - P(0)| \le |P(0)| + |P(2021)| \le 2020.
From that, let's put P(x)=x(x2021)Q(x)+cP(x) = x(x - 2021)Q(x) + c with cZc \in \mathbb{Z} and Q(x)Z[x]Q(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x]. So x(x2021)2022,x{2,3,,2019}x(x - 2021) \ge 2022, \forall x \in \{2, 3, \dots, 2019\}. If there exists x0{2,3,,2019}x_0 \in \{2, 3, \dots, 2019\} such that Q(x0)0Q(x_0) \ne 0 then
maxx0(x02021)Q(x0)c12x0(x02021)Q(x0)1011. \max |x_0(x_0 - 2021)Q(x_0) - c| \ge \frac{1}{2} |x_0(x_0 - 2021)Q(x_0)| \ge 1011.
From this, we can conclude that Q(2)=Q(3)==Q(2019)=0Q(2) = Q(3) = \cdots = Q(2019) = 0 so let's write
P(x)=x(x2)(x3)(x2019)(x2021)H(x)+c P(x) = x(x-2)(x-3)\cdots(x-2019)(x-2021)H(x) + c
with H(x)Z[x]H(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] then P(1)=20202018!H(1)+cP(1) = -2020 \cdot 2018!H(1) + c. Note that if H(1)0H(1) \neq 0 then MP(x)>1011M_{P(x)} > 1011. Similarly, H(2020)0H(2020) \neq 0 also leads to another contradiction, so H(1)=H(2020)=0H(1) = H(2020) = 0 then there is some R(x)Z[x]R(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] for which
Q(x)=(x1)(x2)(x2020)R(x). Q(x) = (x-1)(x-2)\cdots(x-2020)R(x).
Since degP2022\deg P \leq 2022 then R(x)cZR(x) \equiv c \in \mathbb{Z}. On the other hand, P(12)>1011P\left(\frac{1}{2}\right) > 1011 so c=0c = 0, which contradicts P(x)P(x) being non-constant. Therefore, the contrary hypothesis is false and it follows that MP(x)1011M_{P(x)} \geq 1011. \square

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