Let P(x)=adxd+ad−1xd−1+⋯+a0. Consider the substitution y=dadx+ad−1. By defining Q(y)=P(x), we find that Q is a polynomial with rational coefficients without the term yd−1. Let Q(y)=bdyd+bd−2yd−2+bd−3yd−3+⋯+b0 and B=max0⩽i⩽d{∣bi∣} (where bd−1=0). The condition shows that for each n⩾1, there exist integers y1,y2,…,yn such that 21<Q(y1)Q(yi)<2. This can be rewritten in the expanded form
bd(mdyid−ldy1d)=−j=0∑d−2bj(mdyij−ldy1j)
Let c be the common denominator of Q, so that cQ(k) is an integer for any integer k. Note that c depends only on P and so we may assume (p,c)=1. Then y1≡yi(modp) implies cQ(y1)≡cQ(yi)(modp).
- Case 1. p∣cQ(y1).
In this case, there is a cancellation of p in the numerator and denominator of cQ(y1)cQ(yi), so that md⩽p−1∣cQ(y1)∣. Noting ∣Q(y1)∣<2By1d as y1 is large, we get
m⩽p−d1(2cB)d1y1
For large y1 and yi, the relation 21<Q(y1)Q(yi)<2 implies
31<y1dyid<3
We also have
21<mdld<2
Now, the left-hand side of (1) is
bd(myi−ly1)(md−1yid−1+md−2yid−2ly1+⋯+ld−1y1d−1).
Suppose on the contrary that myi−ly1=0. Then the absolute value of the above expression is at least ∣bd∣md−1yid−1. On the other hand, the absolute value of the right-hand side of (1) is at most
j=0∑d−2B(mdyij+ldy1j)⩽(d−1)B(mdyid−2+ldy1d−2)⩽(d−1)B(7mdyid−2)⩽7(d−1)B(p−d1(2cB)d1y1)md−1yid−2⩽21(d−1)Bp−d1(2cB)d1md−1yid−1
by using successively (3), (4), (2) and again (3). This shows
∣bd∣md−1yid−1⩽21(d−1)Bp−d1(2cB)d1md−1yid−1,
which is a contradiction for large p as bd,B,c,d depend only on the polynomial P. Therefore, we have myi−ly1=0 in this case.
- Case 2. (p,cQ(y1))=1.
From cQ(y1)≡cQ(yi)(modp), we have ld≡md(modp). Since (p−1,d)=1, we use Fermat Little Theorem to conclude l≡m(modp). Then p∣myi−ly1. Suppose on the contrary that myi−ly1=0. Then the left-hand side of (1) has absolute value at least ∣bd∣pmd−1yid−1. Similar to Case 1, the right-hand side of (1) has absolute value at most
21(d−1)B(2cB)d1md−1yid−1
which must be smaller than ∣bd∣pmd−1yid−1 for large p. Again this yields a contradiction and hence myi−ly1=0.
In both cases, we find that Q(y1)Q(yi)=mdld=y1dyid. From the Claim, the polynomial Q(y1)yd−y1dQ(y) has roots y=y1,y2,…,yd+1. Since its degree is at most d, this must be the zero polynomial. Hence, Q(y)=bdyd. This implies P(x)=ad(x+dadad−1)d. Let dadad−1=rs with integers r,s where r⩾1 and (r,s)=1. Since P has integer coefficients, we need rd∣ad. Let ad=rda. Then P(x)=a(rx+s)d. It is obvious that such a polynomial satisfies the conditions.
Comment. In the proof, the use of prime and Dirichlet's Theorem can be avoided. One can easily show that each P(xi) can be expressed in the form uvid where u,vi are integers and u cannot be divisible by the d-th power of a prime (note that u depends only on P). By fixing a large integer q and by choosing a large n, we can apply the Pigeonhole Principle and assume x1≡x2≡⋯≡xd+1(modq) and v1≡v2≡⋯≡vd+1(modq). Then the remaining proof is similar to Case 2 of the Solution.
Alternatively, we give another modification of the proof as follows. We take a sufficiently large n and consider the corresponding positive integers y1,y2,…,yn. For each 2⩽i⩽n, let Q(y1)Q(yi)=midlid.
As in Case 1, if there are d indices i such that the integers midc∣Q(y1)∣ are bounded below by a constant depending only on P, we can establish the Claim using those yi's and complete the proof. Similarly, as in Case 2, if there are d indices i such that the integers ∣miyi−liy1∣ are bounded below, then the proof goes the same. So it suffices to consider the case where midc∣Q(y1)∣⩽M and ∣miyi−liy1∣⩽N for all 2⩽i⩽n′ where M,N are fixed constants and n′ is large. Since there are only finitely many choices for mi and miyi−liy1