Find all injective functions f:Z≥0→Z≥0 such that for all n∈N and every (n+1)-tuple of real numbers like (a0,…,an) where not all of them are equal to zero, the polynomial ∑i=0naixi has a real root if and only if the polynomial ∑i=0naixf(i) has a real root.
Solution
As P(x)=1 has no real root, xf(0) has also no real root. So f(0)=0. Now considering xi+1, it has a real root if and only if i is odd. So i and f(i) have the same parity. For even n consider the following polynomial in which a,ϵ are positive numbers: P(x)=xn+nan−1x+(n−1)an+ϵ This polynomial has no real root, indeed applying AM-GM inequality yielding xn+an+⋯+an≥nxan−1∣x∣. Then by the problem's condition, the polynomial Q(x)=xf(n)+nan−1xf(1)+(n−1)an+ϵ has no real root. Thus q(−af(1)1) should be positive yielding: af(1)f(n)+ϵ>an⟹af(1)f(n)≥an By putting a greater and less than 1 we get f(n)=nf(1). For odd n consider the polynomial (xn+a)2+ϵ for a positive a and ϵ. This polynomial is obviously positive so x2nf(1)+2axf(n)+a2+ϵ>0 By putting x=−af(n)1 we have: af(n)2nf(1)+a2+ϵ>2a2⟹af(n)2nf(1)≥a2⟹f(n)=nf(1). This finishes our proof.
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