Let n be an odd number greater than 1, and let f(x) be a polynomial of degree n in x. It is known that f(k)=2k holds for k=0,1,…,n. Prove that the integers x for which the value of f(x) is a power of 2 are only finitely many.
Solution
Since n+1 values already uniquely determine a polynomial of degree n, and f(k)=2k=(1+1)k=C(k,0)+C(k,1)+⋯+C(k,n) holds for k=0,1,…,n, while the right-hand side is a polynomial of degree n, we know that f(x)=C(x,0)+C(x,1)+⋯+C(x,n). Moreover, since n is odd, pairing up terms two by two in the above expression, we obtain f(x)=C(x+1,1)+C(x+1,3)+⋯+C(x+1,n)=(x+1)[1+31C(x,2)+51C(x,4)+⋯+n1C(x,n−1)]. Let n!f(x)=(x+1)R(x); note that R(x) is a polynomial with integer coefficients. For all integers x, we have gcd(x+1,R(x))R(−1)=n![1+31+51+⋯+n1]. Note that R(−1) is a nonzero integer, so ν2(R(−1)) must be finite, where ν2(m):=sup{k:2k∣m}. In other words, we have min{ν2(x+1),ν2(R(x))}=ν2(gcd(x+1,R(x)))≤ν2(R(−1))<∞.(1)
Now, suppose x is an integer such that f(x) is a power of 2, then we have x+1∣n!×2ν2(f(x)) and R(x)∣n!×2ν2(f(x)). But by Eq. (1), this means that x+1n!×2ν2(x+1)n!×2ν2(R(−1))(2) and R(x)n!×2ν2(R(x))n!×2ν2(R(−1))(3) at least one must hold. However, since ∣x∣→∞lim∣x+1∣=∞and∣x∣→∞lim∣R(x)∣=∞, it is easy to see that the x satisfying at least one of Eq. (2) and Eq. (3) can be at most finitely many. This completes the proof.
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