Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Taiwan

Let f,gf, g be polynomial functions mapping real numbers to real numbers. Find all pairs of polynomial functions (f(x),g(x))(f(x), g(x)) such that for any real number xx,
f(f(f(f(x))))=g(g(g(g(x)))) f(f(f(f(x)))) = g(g(g(g(x))))
holds.

Solution

All polynomials satisfying the problem's conditions are:
(i) f(x)=g(x)f(x) = g(x)
(ii) f(x)=S(x+a)a,g(x)=S(x+a)af(x) = S(x+a) - a, g(x) = -S(x+a) - a, where aa is any real number, and SS is any odd polynomial function (i.e. S(x)=aix2k+1S(x) = \sum a_i x^{2k+1}).

It is easy to see that f(x)f(x) and g(x)g(x) have the same degree. Let F(x)=f(f(x))=i=0mamxmiF(x) = f(f(x)) = \sum_{i=0}^{m} a_m x^{m-i},
G(x)=g(g(x))=i=0mbmxmiG(x) = g(g(x)) = \sum_{i=0}^{m} b_m x^{m-i}. Then the polynomials F(x),G(x)F(x), G(x) satisfy F(F(x))=G(G(x))F(F(x)) = G(G(x)). Write H(x)=F(F(x))=G(G(x))=i=0m2hixm2iH(x) = F(F(x)) = G(G(x)) = \sum_{i=0}^{m^2} h_i x^{m^2-i}, and we will examine h0,h1,,hmh_0, h_1, \dots, h_m in order.

Expanding F(F(x))F(F(x)):
F(F(x))=a0(a0xm+a1xm1++am)m+a1(a0xm++am)m1+ F(F(x)) = a_0(a_0x^m + a_1x^{m-1} + \dots + a_m)^m + a_1(a_0x^m + \dots + a_m)^{m-1} + \dots
Note that only the term a0(a0xm+a1xm1++am)ma_0(a_0x^m + a_1x^{m-1} + \dots + a_m)^m has degree in xx exceeding m(m1)m(m-1), so when computing h0,h1,,hm1h_0, h_1, \dots, h_{m-1}, we only need to look at this term.

First, from
h0=a0m+1=b0m+1 h_0 = a_0^{m+1} = b_0^{m+1}
we can deduce that a0=b0a_0 = b_0 or a0=b0a_0 = -b_0, and the latter can only happen when mm is odd. For convenience of notation, we write a0=sb0a_0 = sb_0, where s=1s = 1 or 1-1.

Next we use mathematical induction to prove that ai=sbi,0i<ma_i = sb_i, \forall 0 \le i < m. The base case i=0i = 0 has already been proven.
Suppose for some positive integer k<mk < m, ai=sbia_i = sb_i holds for all 0i<k0 \le i < k, then observe the equation
hk=a0r1++rm=kar1ar2arm=b0r1++rm=kbr1br2brm h_k = a_0 \sum_{r_1+\cdots+r_m=k} a_{r_1} a_{r_2} \cdots a_{r_m} = b_0 \sum_{r_1+\cdots+r_m=k} b_{r_1} b_{r_2} \cdots b_{r_m}
Among the terms in the Σ\Sigma, if a term has every rir_i less than kk, then every rir_i satisfies ari=sbria_{r_i} = sb_{r_i}, and thus
a0ar1ar2arm=sm+1b0br1br2brm=b0br1br2brm a_0 a_{r_1} a_{r_2} \cdots a_{r_m} = s^{m+1} b_0 b_{r_1} b_{r_2} \cdots b_{r_m} = b_0 b_{r_1} b_{r_2} \cdots b_{r_m}
Therefore this term cancels out on both sides of the equation. The only remaining terms that cannot be cancelled are those where for some ii, ri=kr_i = k and all others are 00. There are mm such terms in total, so
ma0mak=mb0mbk=msma0mbk ma_0^m a_k = mb_0^m b_k = ms^m a_0^m b_k
so ak=sbka_k = sb_k. By mathematical induction, we have proven ai=sbi,0i<ma_i = sb_i, \forall 0 \le i < m.

It is worth mentioning that when k=mk = m, hkh_k will have one additional term beyond the above, namely a1a0m1a_1 a_0^{m-1} and b1b0m1=sma1a0m1b_1 b_0^{m-1} = s^m a_1 a_0^{m-1} (coming from the highest degree of the second largest term of F(F(x))F(F(x))). This means that when s=1s = 1 we can still continue to deduce am=sbma_m = sb_m, giving one set of solutions F(x)=G(x)F(x) = G(x); but when s=1s = -1 these extra two terms cannot cancel, so we cannot obtain information about the constant term, and we only get F(x)=G(x)+rF(x) = -G(x) + r, where rr is some real number.

We continue the discussion for the case F(x)=G(x)+rF(x) = -G(x)+r. Substituting this into F(F(x))=G(G(x))F(F(x)) = G(G(x)) gives
G(G(x))=F(F(x))=G(G(x)+r)+r G(G(x)) = F(F(x)) = -G(-G(x) + r) + r
Recall that in this case mm is odd, so G(x)G(x) maps onto all real numbers, hence for any real number aa we can find xx such that G(x)=r2+aG(x) = \frac{r}{2} + a, so
G(r2+a)r2=(G(r2a)r2),aR G(\frac{r}{2} + a) - \frac{r}{2} = -(G(\frac{r}{2} - a) - \frac{r}{2}), \forall a \in \mathbb{R}
This tells us that G(x)G(x) is an odd function centered at (r2,r2)(\frac{r}{2}, \frac{r}{2}).

At this point, we have deduced that if F(F(x))=G(G(x))F(F(x)) = G(G(x)), then F(x)=G(x)F(x) = G(x), or F(x)=S(x+a)a,G(x)=S(x+a)aF(x) = S(x+a) - a, G(x) = -S(x+a) - a, where aa is any real number, and S(x)S(x) is any odd polynomial function. Substituting back to check, it is easy to see that both sets of solutions satisfy F(F(x))=G(G(x))F(F(x)) = G(G(x)).

Returning to the original problem, let the degrees of f(x)f(x) and g(x)g(x) be kk, with k2=mk^2 = m. If we are in the case F(x)=S(x+a)a,G(x)=S(x+a)aF(x) = S(x+a) - a, G(x) = -S(x+a) - a, then f(f(x))=F(x)f(f(x)) = F(x) and g(g(x))=G(x)g(g(x)) = G(x) have leading coefficients differing by a sign.
But recall that in this case mm is odd, so kk is also odd, and then the leading coefficient of f(f(x))f(f(x)) will be a0k+1>0a_0^{k+1} > 0, and similarly the leading coefficient of g(g(x))g(g(x)) is also greater than zero, a contradiction!

Therefore only the case F(x)=G(x)F(x) = G(x) remains, in which case f(f(x))=g(g(x))f(f(x)) = g(g(x)), so we immediately know that all solutions satisfying the problem's conditions are:
(i) f(x)=g(x)f(x) = g(x)

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