Both f(x) and g(x) are polynomials with real coefficients, and are not identically zero. Suppose that they satisfy the following functional equation: f(x3)+g(x)=f(x)+x5g(x) Give an example of such a function f(x) with the smallest possible degree.
Solution
Let us try to find a polynomial f(x) of degree at most 4, which satisfies the condition of the problem with some non-zero polynomial g(x). As the given equation can be rewritten in the form f(x3)−f(x)=(x5−1)g(x), we see that f(x3)−f(x) must be divisible by x5−1. Let us represent f(x) as f(x)=a4x4+a3x3+a2x2+a1x+a0, where a4,a3,a2,a1,a0 are real numbers. Then, we get f(x3)−f(x)=a4(x12−x4)+a3(x9−x3)+a2(x6−x2)+a1(x3−x). If we divide x12−x4, x9−x3 and x6−x2 by x5−1 we get the remainders x2−x4, x4−x3 and x−x2, respectively. Therefore, the remainder which results when we divide f(x3)−f(x) by x5−1 is (−a4+a3)x4+(−a3+a1)x3+(a4−a2)x2+(a2−a1)x. Consequently, the fact that f(x3)−f(x) is divisible by x5−1 is equivalent to the validity of −a4+a3=−a3+a1=a4−a2=a2−a1=0. These together imply that a1=a2=a3=a4 so that we can conclude that f(x) must be of the form f(x)=ax4+ax3+ax2+ax+b, with some pair of real numbers a,b. When this is the case, we can determine from f(x3)−f(x)=(x5−1)g(x) that g(x)=ax7+ax4+ax2+ax. From the fact that neither f(x) nor g(x) are identically zero, we get that the constant a must be non-zero and b can be arbitrary. Hence we see that (f(x),g(x))=(ax4+ax3+ax2+ax+b,ax7+ax4+ax2+ax) gives a pair (f(x),g(x)), satisfying the given functional equation. Since any polynomial of degree 4 or less can be represented in the form a4x4+a3x3+a2x2+a1x+a0 for some choice of real numbers a4,a3,a2,a1,a0, the argument above shows that the polynomial f(x) desired must be of the form f(x)=ax4+ax3+ax2+ax+b for some choice of non-zero real number a and a real number b.
Alternate Solution: We can use the following theorem from the complex function theory (de Moivre's Theorem): For an arbitrary angle θ and a positive integer n (cosθ+isinθ)n=cosnθ+isinnθ holds. Here i represents the imaginary unit −1. Now, if we let θ=52π and set ω=cosθ+isinθ, then by de Moivre's Theorem, we get ω5=1. For any positive integer k, we also have (ωk)5=(ω5)k=1 so that each of the five numbers 1,ω,ω2,ω3,ω4 gives a complex-valued root to the equation x5−1=0. From the fact that ωk=coskθ+isinkθ, it follows that these five numbers are all distinct, and therefore by the factorization theorem, we obtain that x5−1=(x−1)(x−ω)(x−ω2)(x−ω3)(x−ω4). Dividing both sides of the equation above by x−1, we get x4+x3+x2+x+1=(x−ω)(x−ω2)(x−ω3)(x−ω4). If we substitute x=ω,ω2,ω3,ω4 into the identity f(x3)−f(x)=(x5−1)g(x), we obtain, since x5−1=0, f(ω3)=f(ω),f(ω6)=f(ω2),f(ω9)=f(ω3),f(ω12)=f(ω4), respectively. Since ω6=ω, ω9=ω4, ω12=ω2, we see that the identities f(ω)=f(ω2)=f(ω3)=f(ω4) hold. Let b denote the common value of these quantities, then since f(ω)−b=f(ω2)−b=f(ω3)−b=f(ω4)−b=0, we can conclude from the factorization theorem that f(x)−b is divisible by (x−ω)(x−ω2)(x−ω3)(x−ω4)=x4+x3+x2+x+1. Therefore, there exists a polynomial h(x) such that f(x)=h(x)(x4+x3+x2+x+1)+b. If h(x)=0, we get f(x3)−f(x)=0, which forces g(x)=0, contradicting the assumption. Therefore, we must have h(x)=0, and this shows that the degree of f(x) must be at least 4. When h(x) is a non-zero constant function, then the corresponding f(x) has the minimal degree of 4, and if we write h(x)=a for some non-zero number a, we get (f(x),g(x))=(a(x4+x3+x2+x)+b,a(x7+x4+x2+x)) as before.
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