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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National Olympiad Prove it Iran

Find all polynomials P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) with rational coefficients such that
P(x)3+Q(x)3=x12+1. P(x)^3 + Q(x)^3 = x^{12} + 1.

Solution

We have x12+1=(x4+1)(x8x4+1)x^{12} + 1 = (x^4 + 1)(x^8 - x^4 + 1). It is easy to check that these two factors are irreducible in Z[x]\mathbb{Z}[x] (or equivalently in Q[x]\mathbb{Q}[x]). On the other hand, P3+Q3=(P+Q)(P2PQ+Q2)P^3 + Q^3 = (P+Q)(P^2-PQ+Q^2). Therefore, our goal is to find PP and QQ such that (P+Q)(P2PQ+Q2)=(x4+1)(x8x4+1)(P+Q)(P^2-PQ+Q^2) = (x^4+1)(x^8-x^4+1). Irreducibility of x4+1x^4+1 and x8x4+1x^8-x^4+1 imply
* x4+1x^4 + 1 divides P+QP + Q or P2PQ+Q2P^2 - PQ + Q^2.
* x8x4+1x^8 - x^4 + 1 divides P+QP + Q or P2PQ+Q2P^2 - PQ + Q^2.
So we have four cases
* P+Q=1P + Q = 1 and P2PQ+Q2=x12+1P^2 - PQ + Q^2 = x^{12} + 1.
13PQ=(P+Q)23PQ=P2PQ+Q2=1+x123P(1P)=x12 1 - 3PQ = (P+Q)^2 - 3PQ = P^2 - PQ + Q^2 = 1 + x^{12} \Rightarrow 3P(1-P) = -x^{12}
So zero is the unique root of both PP and 1P1-P which is impossible.
* P+Q=x12+1P + Q = x^{12} + 1 and P2PQ+Q2=1P^2 - PQ + Q^2 = 1. Same as the previous part, we get 3PQ=x12(x12+2)3PQ = x^{12}(x^{12} + 2). So P(0)=0P(0) = 0 or Q(0)=0Q(0) = 0, but at most one of them can be zero because P+Q=x12+1P + Q = x^{12} + 1. Because of symmetry we assume that PP is divisible by x12x^{12}. Now since 3PQ=x12(x12+2)3PQ = x^{12}(x^{12} + 2), we conclude deg(Q)12\deg(Q) \le 12. If deg(Q)<12\deg(Q) < 12, then degree of PP must be greater than 12 and so we cannot have P+Q=x12+1P + Q = x^{12} + 1. Therefore, deg(P)=deg(Q)=12\deg(P) = \deg(Q) = 12. Hence, there must be rational numbers aa and bb such that P(x)=ax12P(x) = a x^{12} and Q(x)=b(x12+2)Q(x) = b(x^{12} + 2). So P+Q=(a+b)x12+2b=x12+1P + Q = (a + b)x^{12} + 2b = x^{12} + 1. Thus, a=b=12a = b = \frac{1}{2}. This is not possible because 3PQ=3abx12(x12+2)=34x12(x12+2)x12(x12+2)3PQ = 3abx^{12}(x^{12} + 2) = \frac{3}{4}x^{12}(x^{12} + 2) \neq x^{12}(x^{12} + 2). Hence, there is no solution in this case.
* P+Q=x8x4+1P + Q = x^8 - x^4 + 1 and P2PQ+Q2=x4+1P^2 - PQ + Q^2 = x^4 + 1. In this case we have 3PQ=x4(x122x8+3x43)3PQ = x^4(x^{12} - 2x^8 + 3x^4 - 3) and by arguments similar to the previous part, we deduce that deg(P)=deg(Q)=8\deg(P) = \deg(Q) = 8. Let pp and qq be the leading coefficients of PP and QQ, respectively. We have
P+Q=x8x4+1p+q=13PQ=x4(x122x8+3x43)pq=13 \begin{aligned} P + Q &= x^8 - x^4 + 1 & \Rightarrow p + q &= 1 \\ 3PQ &= x^4(x^{12} - 2x^8 + 3x^4 - 3) & \Rightarrow pq &= \frac{1}{3} \end{aligned}
But 4pq=43>1=(p+q)24pq = \frac{4}{3} > 1 = (p+q)^2 and so pp and qq are not real numbers. Thus, we do not have any solutions in this case.
* P+Q=x4+1P+Q = x^4+1 and P2PQ+Q2=x8x4+1P^2-PQ+Q^2 = x^8-x^4+1. We get PQ=x4PQ = x^4. Note that again we cannot have P(0)=Q(0)=0P(0) = Q(0) = 0, because P(0)+Q(0)=1P(0) + Q(0) = 1. So we can assume that for example PP is divisible by x4x^4 and so QQ is a constant polynomial. Suppose that P(x)=px4P(x) = p x^4 and Q(x)=qQ(x) = q (p,qQp, q \in \mathbb{Q}). Now since P+Q=px4+q=x4+1P + Q = p x^4 + q = x^4 + 1 we get p=q=1p = q = 1. This leads to the solution P(x)=x4P(x) = x^4 and Q(x)=1Q(x) = 1. P(x)=1P(x) = 1 and Q(x)=x4Q(x) = x^4 is another solution.

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