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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.8 National olympiad Find the answer

n>1n>1 and distinct positive integers a1,a2,,an+1a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_{n+1} are  given. Does there exist a polynomial p(x)Z[x]p(x)\in\Bbb{Z}[x] of degree  n\le n that satisfies the following conditions?
a. 1i<jn+1:gcd(p(ai),p(aj))>1\forall_{1\le i < j\le n+1}: \gcd(p(a_i),p(a_j))>1
b. 1i<j<kn+1:gcd(p(ai),p(aj),p(ak))=1\forall_{1\le i < j < k\le n+1}: \gcd(p(a_i),p(a_j),p(a_k))=1

[i]Proposed by Mojtaba Zare[/i]

Solution

1. **Define the sequence bij b_{ij} :**
We need to define a sequence bij b_{ij} such that:
- bij=bji b_{ij} = b_{ji}
- {i,j}{m,n}    gcd(bij,bmn)=1 \{i,j\} \neq \{m,n\} \implies \gcd(b_{ij}, b_{mn}) = 1

2. **Construct the polynomial P(x) P(x) :**
Define P(ai)=j=1n+1bij P(a_i) = \prod_{j=1}^{n+1} b_{ij} . This ensures that P(ai) P(a_i) and P(aj) P(a_j) share common factors for ij i \neq j , satisfying the first condition.

3. Lagrange Interpolation:
By Lagrange interpolation, we can find a polynomial P(x)Q[x] P(x) \in \mathbb{Q}[x] of degree at most n n that satisfies P(ai)=j=1n+1bij P(a_i) = \prod_{j=1}^{n+1} b_{ij} for i=1,2,,n+1 i = 1, 2, \ldots, n+1 .

4. **Ensure P(x)Z[x] P(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] :**
We need to show that P(x) P(x) can be chosen to have integer coefficients. By Lagrange interpolation, we have:
P(x)=i=1n+1P(ai)1jn+1ji(xajaiaj) P(x) = \sum_{i=1}^{n+1} P(a_i) \prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} \left( \frac{x - a_j}{a_i - a_j} \right)
Define A=i=1n+1(1jn+1ji(aiaj)) A = \prod_{i=1}^{n+1} \left( \prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (a_i - a_j) \right) .

5. **Choose bij b_{ij} such that bij1(modA) b_{ij} \equiv 1 \pmod{A} :**
We need n(n+1)2 \frac{n(n+1)}{2} relatively coprime integers congruent to 1 modulo A A . This can be achieved by setting:
b1=1,bi=Aj=1i1bj+12in(n+1)2 b_1 = 1, \quad b_i = A \prod_{j=1}^{i-1} b_j + 1 \quad \forall 2 \leq i \leq \frac{n(n+1)}{2}

6. **Verify P(ai)1(modA) P(a_i) \equiv 1 \pmod{A} :**
Set ki=P(ai)1A k_i = \frac{P(a_i) - 1}{A} . We need to show that P(x)Z[x] P(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] . Using Lagrange interpolation on the constant polynomial 1, we have:
1=i=1n+111jn+1ji(xajaiaj) 1 = \sum_{i=1}^{n+1} 1 \cdot \prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} \left( \frac{x - a_j}{a_i - a_j} \right)
This implies:
1=i=1n+1(P(ai)Aki)1jn+1ji(xaj)1jn+1ji(aiaj) 1 = \sum_{i=1}^{n+1} (P(a_i) - Ak_i) \frac{\prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (x - a_j)}{\prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (a_i - a_j)}
Simplifying, we get:
1=P(x)i=1n+1(Aki)1jn+1ji(xaj)1jn+1ji(aiaj) 1 = P(x) - \sum_{i=1}^{n+1} (Ak_i) \frac{\prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (x - a_j)}{\prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (a_i - a_j)}
Since 1jn+1ji(aiaj)A \prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (a_i - a_j) \mid A , the term:
i=1n+1(Aki)1jn+1ji(xaj)1jn+1ji(aiaj) \sum_{i=1}^{n+1} (Ak_i) \frac{\prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (x - a_j)}{\prod_{\substack{1 \leq j \leq n+1 \\ j \neq i}} (a_i - a_j)}
has integer coefficients, ensuring that P(x)Z[x] P(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] .

\blacksquare

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