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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Find the answer United States

Recall that the conjugate of the complex number w=a+biw = a + bi, where aa and bb are real numbers and i=1i = \sqrt{-1}, is the complex number wˉ=abi\bar{w} = a - bi. For any complex number zz, let f(z)=4izˉf(z) = 4i\bar{z}. The polynomial P(z)=z4+4z3+3z2+2z+1P(z) = z^4 + 4z^3 + 3z^2 + 2z + 1 has four complex roots: z1,z2,z3z_1, z_2, z_3, and z4z_4. Let Q(z)=z4+Az3+Bz2+Cz+DQ(z) = z^4 + Az^3 + Bz^2 + Cz + D be the polynomial whose roots are f(z1),f(z2),f(z3)f(z_1), f(z_2), f(z_3), and f(z4)f(z_4), where the coefficients A,B,CA, B, C, and DD are complex numbers. What is B+DB + D?

Pick one

Solution

First note that because complex roots of a polynomial with real coefficients come in conjugate pairs, the roots of P(z)P(z) are z1,z2,z3,z4\overline{z_1}, \overline{z_2}, \overline{z_3}, \overline{z_4}. In other words, {z1,z2,z3,z4}={z1,z2,z3,z4}\{z_1, z_2, z_3, z_4\} = \{\overline{z_1}, \overline{z_2}, \overline{z_3}, \overline{z_4}\}. Thus Q(z)Q(z) is the polynomial
(z4iz1)(z4iz2)(z4iz3)(z4iz4). (z - 4iz_1)(z - 4iz_2)(z - 4iz_3)(z - 4iz_4).
It follows from Vieta's formulas that
B=(4iz1)(4iz2)+(4iz1)(4iz3)+(4iz1)(4iz4)+(4iz2)(4iz3)+(4iz2)(4iz4)+(4iz3)(4iz4) B = (4iz_1)(4iz_2) + (4iz_1)(4iz_3) + (4iz_1)(4iz_4) + (4iz_2)(4iz_3) + (4iz_2)(4iz_4) + (4iz_3)(4iz_4)
and
D=(4iz1)(4iz2)(4iz3)(4iz4). D = (4iz_1)(4iz_2)(4iz_3)(4iz_4).

Applying Vieta's formulas to P(z)P(z) yields
3=z1z2+z1z3+z1z4+z2z3+z2z4+z3z4and1=z1z2z3z4. 3 = z_1z_2 + z_1z_3 + z_1z_4 + z_2z_3 + z_2z_4 + z_3z_4 \quad \text{and} \quad 1 = z_1z_2z_3z_4.
Thus B=(4i)23=163=48B = (4i)^2 \cdot 3 = -16 \cdot 3 = -48 and D=(4i)41=256D = (4i)^4 \cdot 1 = 256. The requested sum is B+D=48+256=208B+D = -48+256 = 208.

As above, {z1,z2,z3,z4}={z1,z2,z3,z4}\{z_1, z_2, z_3, z_4\} = \{\overline{z_1}, \overline{z_2}, \overline{z_3}, \overline{z_4}\}. Let R(z)=(4i)4P(z4i)R(z) = (4i)^4 \cdot P(\frac{z}{4i}). Then the roots of R(z)R(z) are f(zj)f(z_j) for j=1,2,3,4j = 1, 2, 3, 4 and its leading coefficient is 1, so R(z)=Q(z)R(z) = Q(z). Therefore
A=4(4i)=16iB=3(4i)2=48C=2(4i)3=128iD=(4i)4=256. \begin{aligned} A &= 4 \cdot (4i) = 16i \\ B &= 3 \cdot (4i)^2 = -48 \\ C &= 2 \cdot (4i)^3 = -128i \\ D &= (4i)^4 = 256. \end{aligned}
The requested sum is 48+256=208-48 + 256 = 208.

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