Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /270 of 520

Algebra Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Find the answer

Find all monic polynomials P(x)P(x) such that the polynomial P(x)21P(x)^2-1 is divisible by the polynomial P(x+1)P(x+1).

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

1. Initial Setup and Monic Polynomial Definition:
We are given that P(x) P(x) is a monic polynomial such that P(x)21 P(x)^2 - 1 is divisible by P(x+1) P(x+1) . A monic polynomial is a polynomial whose leading coefficient is 1.

2. Case for Degree 0 and 1:
- For deg(P(x))=0 \deg(P(x)) = 0 , P(x) P(x) is a constant polynomial. Let P(x)=c P(x) = c . Then P(x)21=c21 P(x)^2 - 1 = c^2 - 1 . For P(x+1)=c P(x+1) = c to divide c21 c^2 - 1 , c c must be ±1 \pm 1 . Since P(x) P(x) is monic, c=1 c = 1 . Thus, P(x)=1 P(x) = 1 .
- For deg(P(x))=1 \deg(P(x)) = 1 , let P(x)=x+b P(x) = x + b . Then P(x+1)=x+b+1 P(x+1) = x + b + 1 and P(x)21=(x+b)21=(x+b1)(x+b+1) P(x)^2 - 1 = (x + b)^2 - 1 = (x + b - 1)(x + b + 1) . Clearly, P(x+1)=x+b+1 P(x+1) = x + b + 1 divides (x+b1)(x+b+1) (x + b - 1)(x + b + 1) .

3. **Claim: All Roots of P(x) P(x) are the Same**:
Suppose P(x) P(x) has degree n2 n \ge 2 . We can write P(x)=i=1n(xzi) P(x) = \prod_{i=1}^n (x - z_i) where zi z_i are the roots of P P . Without loss of generality, assume Re(z1)Re(z2)Re(zn) \text{Re}(z_1) \le \text{Re}(z_2) \le \dots \le \text{Re}(z_n) .

4. **Evaluating P(zi1)=1 |P(z_i - 1)| = 1 **:
Since P(x+1) P(x+1) divides P(x)21 P(x)^2 - 1 , for any root zi z_i of P P , P(zi1)=0 P(z_i - 1) = 0 . Thus, P(zi1)=1 |P(z_i - 1)| = 1 . We have:
1=P(z11)=i=1n(z11zi)=i=1nz11zi 1 = |P(z_1 - 1)| = \left| \prod_{i=1}^n (z_1 - 1 - z_i) \right| = \prod_{i=1}^n |z_1 - 1 - z_i|
Since Re(z1zi1)1 \text{Re}(z_1 - z_i - 1) \le -1 , we have z1zi11 |z_1 - z_i - 1| \ge 1 . Therefore:
i=1nz11zii=1n1=1 \prod_{i=1}^n |z_1 - 1 - z_i| \ge \prod_{i=1}^n 1 = 1
Equality must hold, implying z1zi1=1 |z_1 - z_i - 1| = 1 for all i i . This forces z1=zi z_1 = z_i for all i i , meaning all roots are the same.

5. **Form of P(x) P(x) **:
Since all roots are the same, P(x)=(xc)n P(x) = (x - c)^n for some constant c c .

6. Divisibility Condition:
We need P(x+1)=(xc+1)n P(x+1) = (x - c + 1)^n to divide P(x)21=((xc)n)21 P(x)^2 - 1 = ((x - c)^n)^2 - 1 . Notice:
P(x)21=((xc)n)21=((xc)n1)((xc)n+1) P(x)^2 - 1 = ((x - c)^n)^2 - 1 = ((x - c)^n - 1)((x - c)^n + 1)
Since gcd((xc)n1,(xc)n+1)=1 \gcd((x - c)^n - 1, (x - c)^n + 1) = 1 , P(x+1) P(x+1) must divide either (xc)n1 (x - c)^n - 1 or (xc)n+1 (x - c)^n + 1 . Given the degrees, this implies:
P(x+1)=P(x)+1orP(x+1)=P(x)1 P(x+1) = P(x) + 1 \quad \text{or} \quad P(x+1) = P(x) - 1

7. **Polynomials Satisfying P(x+1)=P(x)±1 P(x+1) = P(x) \pm 1 **:
The only polynomials satisfying P(x+1)P(x)=1 P(x+1) - P(x) = 1 or P(x+1)P(x)=1 P(x+1) - P(x) = -1 are linear polynomials. Thus, P(x)=x+b P(x) = x + b for some bZ b \in \mathbb{Z} .

Conclusion:
The only monic polynomials P(x) P(x) such that P(x)21 P(x)^2 - 1 is divisible by P(x+1) P(x+1) are P(x)=1 P(x) = 1 and P(x)=x+b P(x) = x + b for any bZ b \in \mathbb{Z} .

The final answer is P(x)=1 \boxed{ P(x) = 1 } and P(x)=x+b P(x) = x + b for any bZ b \in \mathbb{Z} .

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.