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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Prove it Brazil

For each real number tt, let Pt(x)=x312x+tP_t(x) = x^3 - 12x + t and let
Δ(t)=max{cRPt(c)=0}min{cRPt(c)=0} \Delta(t) = \max\{c \in \mathbb{R} \mid P_t(c) = 0\} - \min\{c \in \mathbb{R} \mid P_t(c) = 0\}
the difference between the largest and the smallest real roots of Pt(x)P_t(x). Determine the range of values that Δ(t)\Delta(t) can assume as tt varies.

Solution

Let Q(x)=x312xQ(x) = x^3 - 12x. Then Q(x)=3x212Q'(x) = 3x^2 - 12 has roots 2-2 and 22, and QQ has a local minimum at (2,16)(2, -16) and a local maximum at (2,16)(-2, 16). So Q(x)=tQ(x) = -t has three (not necessarily distinct) real roots for 16t16-16 \le t \le 16 and one real root for t<16t < -16 and t>16t > 16, which means that Δ(t)=0\Delta(t) = 0 for t<16t < -16 or t>16t > 16. So from now on we consider only t[16,16]t \in [-16, 16].

Let uvwu \le v \le w be the roots. Since Pt(x)=0    x=2P'_t(x) = 0 \iff x = -2 or x=2x = 2 we have u2v2wu \le -2 \le v \le 2 \le w. In particular, 2v2-2 \le v \le 2, and vv can assume any value in this interval: if t=16t = -16, v=2v = -2 and if t=16t = 16, v=2v = 2.

But we know that u+v+w=0u + v + w = 0 and uv+vw+uw=12uv + vw + uw = -12, so u+w=vu + w = -v and uw=12v(u+w)=v212uw = -12 - v(u + w) = v^2 - 12, so (Δ(t))2=(wu)2=(w+u)24uw=483v2(\Delta(t))^2 = (w - u)^2 = (w + u)^2 - 4uw = 48 - 3v^2, which lies in the range [48322,48]=[36,48][48 - 3 \cdot 2^2, 48] = [36, 48]. So 36(Δ(t))248    6Δ(t)4336 \le (\Delta(t))^2 \le 48 \iff 6 \le \Delta(t) \le 4\sqrt{3}.

So the range of Δ(t)\Delta(t) is {0}[6,43]\{0\} \cup [6, 4\sqrt{3}].

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.