Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Let f(x)=x3+x+1f(x) = x^{3} + x + 1. Suppose gg is a cubic polynomial such that g(0)=1g(0) = -1, and the roots of gg are the squares of the roots of ff. Find g(9)g(9).

Solution

Solution:

Let a,b,ca, b, c be the zeros of ff. Then f(x)=(xa)(xb)(xc)f(x) = (x - a)(x - b)(x - c). Then, the roots of gg are a2,b2,c2a^{2}, b^{2}, c^{2}, so g(x)=k(xa2)(xb2)(xc2)g(x) = k(x - a^{2})(x - b^{2})(x - c^{2}) for some constant kk. Since abc=f(0)=1a b c = -f(0) = -1, we have k=ka2b2c2=g(0)=1k = k a^{2} b^{2} c^{2} = -g(0) = 1. Thus,
g(x2)=(x2a2)(x2b2)(x2c2)=(xa)(xb)(xc)(x+a)(x+b)(x+c)=f(x)f(x) g(x^{2}) = (x^{2} - a^{2})(x^{2} - b^{2})(x^{2} - c^{2}) = (x - a)(x - b)(x - c)(x + a)(x + b)(x + c) = -f(x) f(-x)
Setting x=3x = 3 gives g(9)=f(3)f(3)=(31)(29)=899g(9) = -f(3) f(-3) = -(31)(-29) = 899.

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