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Bulgarian Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
Find all values of the real parameter pp such that the equation ∣x2−px−2p+1∣=p−1|x^{2}-p x-2 p+1|=p-1 has four real roots x1,x2,x3x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} and x4x_{4} such that
x12+x22+x32+x42=20 x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}+x_{3}^{2}+x_{4}^{2}=20

Solution

Solution:
Answer: p=2p=2. The condition p>1p>1 is necessary (but not sufficient!) for existence of four roots. We consider two cases:

Case 1. If x2−px−2p+1=p−1⟺x2−px−3p+2=0x^{2}-p x-2 p+1=p-1 \Longleftrightarrow x^{2}-p x-3 p+2=0 then by the Vieta theorem we obtain x12+x22=p2−2(2−3p)=p2+6p−4x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}=p^{2}-2(2-3 p)=p^{2}+6 p-4.

Case 2. If x2−px−2p+1=1−p⟺x2−px−p=0x^{2}-p x-2 p+1=1-p \Longleftrightarrow x^{2}-p x-p=0 then by the Vieta theorem we obtain x32+x42=p2+2px_{3}^{2}+x_{4}^{2}=p^{2}+2 p.

Now the condition implies
x12+x22+x32+x42=20⟺2p2+8p−4=20⟺p2+4p−12=0 x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}+x_{3}^{2}+x_{4}^{2}=20 \Longleftrightarrow 2 p^{2}+8 p-4=20 \Longleftrightarrow p^{2}+4 p-12=0
whence p=2p=2 or p=−6p=-6. The second value does not satisfy p>1p>1. For p=2p=2 we do have four real roots (direct check!).

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