Let p(x) and q(x) be two distinct polynomials of degree less than or equal to 3, with integer coefficients and such that p(1)=q(1),p(2)=q(2),p(3)=q(3),p(−1)=−q(−1),p(−2)=−q(−2),p(−3)=−q(−3). What is the minimum value that [p(0)]2+[q(0)]2 can take?
Solution
Solution:
The answer is 36. The polynomial p(x)+q(x) vanishes at x=−1, x=−2 and x=−3; moreover it has degree less than or equal to 3 and has integer coefficients. Therefore, by Ruffini's theorem, it factors as p(x)+q(x)=k(x+1)(x+2)(x+3) with k an integer. Similarly we observe that p(x)−q(x)=h(x−1)(x−2)(x−3) with h an integer. We have that p(x)=21(k(x+1)(x+2)(x+3)+h(x−1)(x−2)(x−3)) from this equality it is easy to see that p(x) has integer coefficients if and only if k and h have the same parity. The condition for q(x) to have integer coefficients is exactly the same. The problem moreover requires that p(x) and q(x) be distinct, which happens if and only if h=0. Evaluating the two initial identities at x=0 we obtain p(0)+q(0)=6k and p(0)−q(0)=−6h. Squaring and adding these two equalities we find (p(0)+q(0))2+(p(0)−q(0))2=36(k2+h2) that is 2⋅([p(0)]2+[q(0)]2)=36(k2+h2). In light of the previous observations, the minimum of k2+h2 is obtained for k=±1 and h=±1. Therefore the minimum value of [p(0)]2+[q(0)]2 is 21⋅36⋅((±1)2+(±1)2)=36 .
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