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Algebra Difficulty 6.7 National olympiad Prove it Vietnam

Consider the polynomial P(x)=a21x21+a20x20++a1x+a0P(x) = a_{21}x^{21} + a_{20}x^{20} + \cdots + a_1x + a_0 with coefficients that are in the interval [1011,2021][1011, 2021]. Given that P(x)P(x) has an integer root and there exists a positive real number cc such that ak+2akc|a_{k+2} - a_k| \le c for all k{0,1,,19}k \in \{0, 1, \dots, 19\}.

a) Prove that P(x)P(x) has a unique integer root.

b) Prove that k=010(a2k+1a2k)2440c2\sum_{k=0}^{10} (a_{2k+1} - a_{2k})^2 \le 440c^2.

Solution

a) Let α\alpha be an integer root of PP. We investigate two cases.
* If α0\alpha \ge 0 then P(α)a0>0P(\alpha) \ge a_0 > 0.
* If α2\alpha \le -2 then
P(α)=i=010(a2i+1α+a2i)α2ii=010(2a2i+1+a2i)α2i<0. P(\alpha) = \sum_{i=0}^{10} (a_{2i+1}\alpha + a_{2i})\alpha^{2i} \le \sum_{i=0}^{10} (-2a_{2i+1} + a_{2i})\alpha^{2i} < 0.
Therefore, the only integer root of PP is α=1\alpha = -1.

b) For each i{0,1,,10}i \in \{0, 1, \dots, 10\}, let bi=a2i+1a2ib_i = a_{2i+1} - a_{2i} then b0++b10=0b_0 + \dots + b_{10} = 0. From ak+2akc|a_{k+2} - a_k| \le c for all k{0,1,,19}k \in \{0, 1, \dots, 19\}, we get that
bkbk+1=a2k+1a2k+3+a2k+2a2k2c,k{0,1,,9}. |b_k - b_{k+1}| = |a_{2k+1} - a_{2k+3} + a_{2k+2} - a_{2k}| \le 2c, \forall k \in \{0, 1, \dots, 9\}.
Using triangle inequality, we obtain that
bibj2(ij)cfor all i>j and i,j{0,1,,10}. |b_i - b_j| \le 2(i - j)c \quad \text{for all } i > j \text{ and } i, j \in \{0, 1, \dots, 10\}.
Therefore,
k=010bk2=k=010(bkb5)2+2b5k=010bk10b524c2k=010(k5)2=440c2. \sum_{k=0}^{10} b_k^2 = \sum_{k=0}^{10} (b_k - b_5)^2 + 2b_5 \sum_{k=0}^{10} b_k - 10b_5^2 \le 4c^2 \sum_{k=0}^{10} (k-5)^2 = 440c^2.

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