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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Vietnam

Given two arithmetic progressions (an)(a_n), (bn)(b_n) and an integer m>2m > 2. Consider mm quadratics Pk(x)=x2+akx+bkP_k(x) = x^2 + a_k x + b_k, k=1,2,,mk = 1, 2, \dots, m. Suppose that neither P1(x)P_1(x) nor Pm(x)P_m(x) has a real root. Prove that none of the given quadratics contains a real root.

Solution

Denote by α\alpha and β\beta the common differences of the arithmetic progressions ana_n and bnb_n, respectively. The quadratics PkP_k (k=1,2,,mk = 1, 2, \dots, m) can be written as
Pk(x)=x2+(a1+(k1)α)x+b1+(k1)β,k=1,2,,m. P_k(x) = x^2 + (a_1 + (k-1)\alpha)x + b_1 + (k-1)\beta, \quad k = 1, 2, \dots, m.
Since P1P_1 and PmP_m have no real root, we have
Δ1=a124b1<0 \Delta_1 = a_1^2 - 4b_1 < 0
and
Δm=(a1+(m1)α)24(b1+(m1)β)<0. \Delta_m = (a_1 + (m-1)\alpha)^2 - 4(b_1 + (m-1)\beta) < 0.
Suppose that there exists kmk \le m such that the quadratic PkP_k has a real root. We have
Δk=(a1+(k1)α)24(b1+(k1)β)0. \Delta_k = (a_1 + (k-1)\alpha)^2 - 4(b_1 + (k-1)\beta) \ge 0.
Since k,m>1k, m > 1, it follows from the above and by the previous inequalities that
(k1)Δm<0<(m1)Δk, (k-1)\Delta_m < 0 < (m-1)\Delta_k,
which is equivalent to
(k1)a12+(k1)(m1)2α24(k1)b1<(m1)a12+(m1)(k1)2α24(m1)b1. (k-1)a_1^2 + (k-1)(m-1)^2\alpha^2 - 4(k-1)b_1 < (m-1)a_1^2 + (m-1)(k-1)^2\alpha^2 - 4(m-1)b_1.
This implies that
(k1)(m1)(mk)2α2<(mk)a124(mk)b1(k1)(m1)2α2<a124b1(since m>k)a124b10, \begin{align*} (k-1)(m-1)(m-k)^2\alpha^2 &< (m-k)a_1^2 - 4(m-k)b_1 \\ (k-1)(m-1)^2\alpha^2 &< a_1^2 - 4b_1 \quad (\text{since } m > k) \\ \Rightarrow a_1^2 - 4b_1 &\ge 0, \end{align*}
which contradicts Δ1=a124b1<0\Delta_1 = a_1^2 - 4b_1 < 0. This completes our proof.

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