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Algebra Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Given an integer n2n \ge 2, determine all non-constant polynomials ff with complex coefficients satisfying the condition 1+f(Xn+1)=(f(X))n1 + f(X^n + 1) = (f(X))^n.

Solution

It is readily checked that the polynomials in the above sequence all satisfy the condition in the statement.

Conversely, let ff be a polynomial with complex coefficients satisfying the condition
1+f(Xn+1)=(f(X))n.(1) 1 + f(X^n + 1) = (f(X))^n. \qquad (1)
To begin, we show that, if f(0)=0f(0) = 0, then f=Xf = -X and nn must be odd. To prove this, consider the sequence defined by x0=0x_0 = 0 and xk+1=xkn+1x_{k+1} = x_k^n + 1, k0k \ge 0. Clearly, f(xk+1)=(f(xk))n1f(x_{k+1}) = (f(x_k))^n - 1, k0k \ge 0, and f(x1)=1f(x_1) = -1.

If nn is odd, induct on kk to prove that f(xk)=xkf(x_k) = -x_k, k0k \ge 0. This is clearly true if k=0,1,2k = 0, 1, 2. For the induction step, use (1) to get f(xk+1)=(xk)n1=(xkn+1)=xk+1f(x_{k+1}) = (-x_k)^n - 1 = -(x_k^n+1) = -x_{k+1}. With reference again to the monotonicity of the xkx_k, we conclude that f=Xf = -X.

Finally, consider the case f(0)0f(0) \ne 0. Let ω\omega be a primitive nn-th root of unity and use (1) to deduce that (f(X))n=(f(ωX))n(f(X))^n = (f(\omega X))^n, so f(X)=ωmf(ωX)f(X) = \omega^m f(\omega X) for some non-negative integer m<nm < n. Since f(0)0f(0) \ne 0, identification of the constant terms yields ωm=1\omega^m = 1, so m=0m = 0, for ω\omega is primitive. Hence f(X)=f(ωX)f(X) = f(\omega X) and identification of coefficients shows that f(X)f(X) is a polynomial in XnX^n with complex coefficients. Alternatively, but equivalently, f(X)=g(Xn+1)f(X) = g(X^n + 1) for some polynomial gg with complex coefficients. Since gg also satisfies (1), the conclusion now follows recursively.

Alternative solution – case f(0)=0f(0) = 0.
Use (1) repeatedly to obtain f(1)=1f(1) = -1, f(2)=(1)n1f(2) = (-1)^n - 1, f(2n+1)=((1)n1)n1f(2^n + 1) = ((-1)^n - 1)^n - 1, and deduce thereby that
f(2n+1)2n+1.(2) |f(2^n + 1)| \le 2^n + 1. \quad (2)
We now take time out to show that the roots of ff all lie in the disc z<2|z| < 2 in the complex plane. To this end, let α0\alpha_0 be a root of ff of maximal absolute value. Since the absolute value of the leading coefficient of ff is 1, (1) yields
α is a root of fα0n+1α=1.(3) \prod_{\alpha \text{ is a root of } f} |\alpha_0^n + 1 - \alpha| = 1. \quad (3)
Suppose, if possible, that α02|\alpha_0| \ge 2. If α\alpha is a root of ff, then
α0n+1αα0n1α2α01α=(α01)+(α0α)α011. |\alpha_0^n + 1 - \alpha| \ge |\alpha_0|^n - 1 - |\alpha| \ge 2|\alpha_0| - 1 - |\alpha| = (|\alpha_0| - 1) + (|\alpha_0| - |\alpha|) \ge |\alpha_0| - 1 \ge 1.
Since f(0)=0f(0) = 0, at least one of the factors of the product in (3) is α0n+1α0n12n13|\alpha_0^n + 1| \ge |\alpha_0|^n - 1 \ge 2^n - 1 \ge 3, so the product is at least 3 — in contradiction with (3).

Back to the problem, write (2) in the form
α is a root of f2n+1α2n+1.(2) \prod_{\alpha \text{ is a root of } f} |2^n + 1 - \alpha| \le 2^n + 1. \quad (2')
By the preceding, if α\alpha is a non-zero root of ff, then 2n+1α2n1α>2n31|2^n + 1 - \alpha| \ge 2^n - 1 - |\alpha| > 2^n - 3 \ge 1, so, if the multiplicity of 0 exceeds 1 or ff has a non-zero root, then the product in (2') exceeds 2n+12^n + 1 and we reach a contradiction. Consequently, f=aXf = aX, where aa is a complex number of absolute value 1, and (1) forces a=1a = -1 and nn odd.

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