Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /12 of 27

, 2012

Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it India

Let P(z)=anzn+an1zn1++amzmP(z) = a_n z^n + a_{n-1} z^{n-1} + \dots + a_m z^m be polynomial with complex coefficients such that am0a_m \neq 0, an0a_n \neq 0 and n>mn > m. Prove that
maxz=1{P(z)}k=mnak2+2aman. \max_{|z|=1}\{|P(z)|\} \ge \sqrt{\sum_{k=m}^{n} |a_k|^2 + 2|a_m a_n|}.

Solution

Note that we may assume m=0m = 0, since P(z)=zmQ(z)P(z) = z^m Q(z) for some polynomial Q(z)Q(z) where P(z)=Q(z)|P(z)| = |Q(z)| on the unit circle. Thus we may write
P(z)=k=0nakzk,an0,a00, P(z) = \sum_{k=0}^{n} a_k z^k, \quad a_n \neq 0, a_0 \neq 0,
and we have to prove that
maxz=1{P(z)}k=0nak2+2a0an. \max_{|z|=1}\{|P(z)|\} \ge \sqrt{\sum_{k=0}^{n} |a_k|^2 + 2|a_0 a_n|}.
Observe that P(z)2=k=0nj=0nakaˉjzkj|P(z)|^2 = \sum_{k=0}^{n} \sum_{j=0}^{n} a_k \bar{a}_j z^{k-j}. Let ω\omega be a primitive nn-th root of unity. Then
l=0n1P(ωlz)2=l=0n1(k=0nj=0nakaˉjωl(kj)zkj)=k=0nj=0nakaˉjzkjl=0n1ωl(kj). \sum_{l=0}^{n-1} |P(\omega^l z)|^2 = \sum_{l=0}^{n-1} \left( \sum_{k=0}^{n} \sum_{j=0}^{n} a_k \bar{a}_j \omega^{l(k-j)} z^{k-j} \right) = \sum_{k=0}^{n} \sum_{j=0}^{n} a_k \bar{a}_j z^{k-j} \sum_{l=0}^{n-1} \omega^{l(k-j)}.
The last sum is nn if kj0(modn)k-j \equiv 0 \pmod{n} and zero otherwise. Hence
1nl=0n1P(ωlz)2=k=0nak2+anaˉ0zn+aˉna0zn. \frac{1}{n} \sum_{l=0}^{n-1} |P(\omega^l z)|^2 = \sum_{k=0}^{n} |a_k|^2 + a_n \bar{a}_0 z^n + \bar{a}_n a_0 z^{-n}.
Choosing z0z_0 such that z0n=a0ana0anz_0^n = \frac{a_0|a_n|}{|a_0|a_n}, we obtain
1nl=0n1P(ωlz0)2=k=0nak2+2a0an. \frac{1}{n} \sum_{l=0}^{n-1} |P(\omega^l z_0)|^2 = \sum_{k=0}^{n} |a_k|^2 + 2|a_0 a_n|.
Hence we can find ll such that
P(ωlz0)2k=0nak2+2a0an. |P(\omega^l z_0)|^2 \geq \sum_{k=0}^{n} |a_k|^2 + 2|a_0 a_n|.
The result follows.

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