Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Slovenia

Let P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) be quadratic polynomials with rational coefficients and assume that the roots of P(x)P(x) are irrational numbers aa and bb. If a+2016a + 2016 is one of the roots of Q(x)Q(x), find all possible values for the other root.

Solution

Let cc denote the other root of QQ. Since PP and QQ have rational coefficients the Vieta's formulas imply
a+b=p1Qandab=p2Q,(a+2016)+c=q1Qand(a+2016)c=q2Q. \begin{aligned} a+b &= p_1 \in \mathbb{Q} \quad \text{and} \quad ab = p_2 \in \mathbb{Q}, \\ (a+2016)+c &= q_1 \in \mathbb{Q} \quad \text{and} \quad (a+2016)c = q_2 \in \mathbb{Q}. \end{aligned}
Expressing b=p1ab = p_1 - a and c=q1a2016c = q_1 - a - 2016 from the equations on the left and inserting them into the equations on the right we get
a(p1a)=p2,(a+2016)(q1a2016)=q2. \begin{aligned} a(p_1 - a) &= p_2, \\ (a + 2016)(q_1 - a - 2016) &= q_2. \end{aligned}
Subtracting one equation from the other we get
a(p1a)(a+2016)(q1a2016)=p2q2a(p1q1+4032)=p2q2+2016q120162Q. \begin{aligned} a(p_1 - a) - (a + 2016)(q_1 - a - 2016) &= p_2 - q_2 \\ \Rightarrow a(p_1 - q_1 + 4032) &= p_2 - q_2 + 2016q_1 - 2016^2 \in \mathbb{Q}. \end{aligned}
If p1q1+40320p_1 - q_1 + 4032 \neq 0, we can write
a=p2q2+2016q120162p1q1+4032Q. a = \frac{p_2 - q_2 + 2016q_1 - 2016^2}{p_1 - q_1 + 4032} \in \mathbb{Q}.
It would follow that aa is rational, which is not the case. So, p1q1+4032=0p_1 - q_1 + 4032 = 0. From here
(a+b)(a+2016+c)+4032=0c=b+2016. (a+b) - (a+2016+c) + 4032 = 0 \Rightarrow c = b+2016.

Hence, the only candidate for the other root of QQ is the number b+2016b + 2016. We have to check that there indeed exists a polynomial QQ with rational coefficients such that a+2016a + 2016 and b+2016b + 2016 are its roots. An example of such a polynomial would be
Q(x)=(xa2016)(xb2016)=x2(a+b)x+ab+2016(a+b)+20162, Q(x) = (x - a - 2016)(x - b - 2016) = x^2 - (a + b)x + ab + 2016(a + b) + 2016^2,
since a+bQa + b \in \mathbb{Q} and ab+2016(a+b)+20162Qab + 2016(a + b) + 2016^2 \in \mathbb{Q}. The only possible value for the other root of the polynomial QQ is therefore b+2016b + 2016.

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