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Algebra Difficulty 4.8 AIME Prove it Japan

Both f(x)f(x) and g(x)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) f(x^3) + g(x) = f(x) + x^5g(x)
Give an example of such a function f(x)f(x) with the smallest possible degree.

Solution

Let us try to find a polynomial f(x)f(x) of degree at most 44, which satisfies the condition of the problem with some non-zero polynomial g(x)g(x). As the given equation can be rewritten in the form f(x3)f(x)=(x51)g(x)f(x^3) - f(x) = (x^5 - 1)g(x), we see that f(x3)f(x)f(x^3) - f(x) must be divisible by x51x^5 - 1. Let us represent f(x)f(x) as f(x)=a4x4+a3x3+a2x2+a1x+a0f(x) = a_4x^4 + a_3x^3 + a_2x^2 + a_1x + a_0, where a4,a3,a2,a1,a0a_4, a_3, a_2, a_1, a_0 are real numbers. Then, we get
f(x3)f(x)=a4(x12x4)+a3(x9x3)+a2(x6x2)+a1(x3x). f(x^3) - f(x) = a_4(x^{12} - x^4) + a_3(x^9 - x^3) + a_2(x^6 - x^2) + a_1(x^3 - x).
If we divide x12x4x^{12} - x^4, x9x3x^9 - x^3 and x6x2x^6 - x^2 by x51x^5 - 1 we get the remainders x2x4x^2 - x^4, x4x3x^4 - x^3 and xx2x - x^2, respectively. Therefore, the remainder which results when we divide f(x3)f(x)f(x^3) - f(x) by x51x^5 - 1 is (a4+a3)x4+(a3+a1)x3+(a4a2)x2+(a2a1)x(-a_4 + a_3)x^4 + (-a_3 + a_1)x^3 + (a_4 - a_2)x^2 + (a_2 - a_1)x. Consequently, the fact that f(x3)f(x)f(x^3) - f(x) is divisible by x51x^5 - 1 is equivalent to the validity of a4+a3=a3+a1=a4a2=a2a1=0-a_4 + a_3 = -a_3 + a_1 = a_4 - a_2 = a_2 - a_1 = 0. These together imply that a1=a2=a3=a4a_1 = a_2 = a_3 = a_4 so that we can conclude that f(x)f(x) must be of the form f(x)=ax4+ax3+ax2+ax+bf(x) = ax^4 + ax^3 + ax^2 + ax + b, with some pair of real numbers a,ba, b. When this is the case, we can determine from f(x3)f(x)=(x51)g(x)f(x^3) - f(x) = (x^5 - 1)g(x) that g(x)=ax7+ax4+ax2+axg(x) = ax^7 + ax^4 + ax^2 + ax. From the fact that neither f(x)f(x) nor g(x)g(x) are identically zero, we get that the constant aa must be non-zero and bb can be arbitrary. Hence we see that (f(x),g(x))=(ax4+ax3+ax2+ax+b,ax7+ax4+ax2+ax)(f(x), g(x)) = (ax^4 + ax^3 + ax^2 + ax + b, ax^7 + ax^4 + ax^2 + ax) gives a pair (f(x),g(x))(f(x), g(x)), satisfying the given functional equation. Since any polynomial of degree 44 or less can be represented in the form a4x4+a3x3+a2x2+a1x+a0a_4x^4 + a_3x^3 + a_2x^2 + a_1x + a_0 for some choice of real numbers a4,a3,a2,a1,a0a_4, a_3, a_2, a_1, a_0, the argument above shows that the polynomial f(x)f(x) desired must be of the form f(x)=ax4+ax3+ax2+ax+bf(x) = ax^4 + ax^3 + ax^2 + ax + b for some choice of non-zero real number aa and a real number bb.

Alternate Solution:
We can use the following theorem from the complex function theory (de Moivre's Theorem):
For an arbitrary angle θ\theta and a positive integer nn
(cosθ+isinθ)n=cosnθ+isinnθ (\cos \theta + i \sin \theta)^n = \cos n\theta + i \sin n\theta
holds. Here ii represents the imaginary unit 1\sqrt{-1}.
Now, if we let θ=2π5\theta = \frac{2\pi}{5} and set ω=cosθ+isinθ\omega = \cos\theta + i\sin\theta, then by de Moivre's Theorem, we get ω5=1\omega^5 = 1. For any positive integer kk, we also have (ωk)5=(ω5)k=1(\omega^k)^5 = (\omega^5)^k = 1 so that each of the five numbers 1,ω,ω2,ω3,ω41, \omega, \omega^2, \omega^3, \omega^4 gives a complex-valued root to the equation x51=0x^5 - 1 = 0. From the fact that ωk=coskθ+isinkθ\omega^k = \cos k\theta + i \sin k\theta, it follows that these five numbers are all distinct, and therefore by the factorization theorem, we obtain that
x51=(x1)(xω)(xω2)(xω3)(xω4). x^5 - 1 = (x - 1)(x - \omega)(x - \omega^2)(x - \omega^3)(x - \omega^4).
Dividing both sides of the equation above by x1x - 1, we get
x4+x3+x2+x+1=(xω)(xω2)(xω3)(xω4). x^4 + x^3 + x^2 + x + 1 = (x - \omega)(x - \omega^2)(x - \omega^3)(x - \omega^4).
If we substitute x=ω,ω2,ω3,ω4x = \omega, \omega^2, \omega^3, \omega^4 into the identity f(x3)f(x)=(x51)g(x)f(x^3) - f(x) = (x^5 - 1)g(x), we obtain, since x51=0x^5 - 1 = 0,
f(ω3)=f(ω),f(ω6)=f(ω2),f(ω9)=f(ω3),f(ω12)=f(ω4), f(\omega^3) = f(\omega), \quad f(\omega^6) = f(\omega^2), \quad f(\omega^9) = f(\omega^3), \quad f(\omega^{12}) = f(\omega^4),
respectively. Since ω6=ω\omega^6 = \omega, ω9=ω4\omega^9 = \omega^4, ω12=ω2\omega^{12} = \omega^2, we see that the identities f(ω)=f(ω2)=f(ω3)=f(ω4)f(\omega) = f(\omega^2) = f(\omega^3) = f(\omega^4) hold. Let bb denote the common value of these quantities, then since f(ω)b=f(ω2)b=f(ω3)b=f(ω4)b=0f(\omega) - b = f(\omega^2) - b = f(\omega^3) - b = f(\omega^4) - b = 0, we can conclude from the factorization theorem that f(x)bf(x) - b is divisible by
(xω)(xω2)(xω3)(xω4)=x4+x3+x2+x+1. (x - \omega)(x - \omega^2)(x - \omega^3)(x - \omega^4) = x^4 + x^3 + x^2 + x + 1.
Therefore, there exists a polynomial h(x)h(x) such that f(x)=h(x)(x4+x3+x2+x+1)+bf(x) = h(x)(x^4 + x^3 + x^2 + x + 1) + b.
If h(x)=0h(x) = 0, we get f(x3)f(x)=0f(x^3) - f(x) = 0, which forces g(x)=0g(x) = 0, contradicting the assumption. Therefore, we must have h(x)0h(x) \neq 0, and this shows that the degree of f(x)f(x) must be at least 44. When h(x)h(x) is a non-zero constant function, then the corresponding f(x)f(x) has the minimal degree of 44, and if we write h(x)=ah(x) = a for some non-zero number aa, we get
(f(x),g(x))=(a(x4+x3+x2+x)+b,a(x7+x4+x2+x)) (f(x), g(x)) = (a(x^4 + x^3 + x^2 + x) + b, a(x^7 + x^4 + x^2 + x))
as before.

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