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Algebra Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Find all non-constant polynomials P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) with real coefficients satisfying the equality P(Q(x))=P(x)Q(x)P(x)P(Q(x)) = P(x)Q(x) - P(x).

Solution

Answer: P(x)=ax2a(b+1)x+abP(x) = a x^2 - a(b+1)x + a b, Q(x)=x2(b+1)x+2bQ(x) = x^2 - (b+1)x + 2b, where a,bRa, b \in \mathbb{R} and a0a \ne 0.

Denote the degrees of polynomials PP and QQ by mm and nn, respectively. In the equality
P(Q(x))=P(x)Q(x)P(x)(1) P(Q(x)) = P(x)Q(x) - P(x) \quad (1)
compare the degrees of both sides:
mn=m+n    (m1)(n1)=1    m=n=2. m n = m + n \iff (m-1)(n-1) = 1 \iff m = n = 2.
Therefore we can denote P(x)=αx2+βx+cP(x) = \alpha x^2 + \beta x + c. Hence (1) can be written in the form α(Q(x))2+βQ(x)=P(x)Q(x)(P(x)+c)Q(x)\alpha(Q(x))^2 + \beta Q(x) = P(x)Q(x) - (P(x)+c)Q(x). Since polynomials PP and QQ have equal degrees, P(x)+c=aQ(x)P(x)+c = a Q(x) for some real number a0a \ne 0. The equality (1) now takes the form
aQ(Q(x))c=(aQ(x)c)Q(x)(aQ(x)c)=a(Q(x))2(a+c)Q(x)+c. a Q(Q(x)) - c = (a Q(x) - c) Q(x) - (a Q(x) - c) = a(Q(x))^2 - (a+c)Q(x) + c.
Since QQ is nonconstant, it attends infinitely many values, hence aQ(x)=ax2(a+c)x+2ca Q(x) = a x^2 - (a+c)x + 2c, or equivalently Q(x)=x2(b+1)x+2bQ(x) = x^2 - (b+1)x + 2b (where b=cab = \frac{c}{a}). Then P(x)=aQ(x)abP(x) = a Q(x) - a b, i.e. P(x)=ax2a(b+1)x+abP(x) = a x^2 - a(b+1)x + a b. It is easy to verify that such polynomials PP and QQ satisfy the problem conditions (1). Indeed, since PP and QQ satisfy P(x)=aQ(x)abP(x) = a Q(x) - a b, the equality (1) can be written as aQ(Q(x))ab=(aQ(x)ab)Q(x)(aQ(x)ab)a Q(Q(x)) - a b = (a Q(x) - a b) Q(x) - (a Q(x) - a b), or, after simplification, Q(Q(x))=(Q(x))2(b+1)Q(x)+2bQ(Q(x)) = (Q(x))^2 - (b+1)Q(x) + 2b, which is true for Q(x)=x2(b+1)x+2bQ(x) = x^2 - (b+1)x + 2b.

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