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Algebra Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Find the answer

Find all polynomials P(x)P(x) of odd degree dd and with integer coefficients satisfying the following property: for each positive integer nn, there exist nn positive integers x1,x2,,xnx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n} such that 12<P(xi)P(xj)<2\frac{1}{2}<\frac{P\left(x_{i}\right)}{P\left(x_{j}\right)}<2 and P(xi)P(xj)\frac{P\left(x_{i}\right)}{P\left(x_{j}\right)} is the dd-th power of a rational number for every pair of indices ii and jj with 1i,jn1 \leqslant i, j \leqslant n. Answer. P(x)=a(rx+s)dP(x)=a(r x+s)^{d} where a,r,sa, r, s are integers with a0,r1a \neq 0, r \geqslant 1 and (r,s)=1(r, s)=1.

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

Solution

Let P(x)=adxd+ad1xd1++a0P(x)=a_{d} x^{d}+a_{d-1} x^{d-1}+\cdots+a_{0}. Consider the substitution y=dadx+ad1y=d a_{d} x+a_{d-1}. By defining Q(y)=P(x)Q(y)=P(x), we find that QQ is a polynomial with rational coefficients without the term yd1y^{d-1}. Let Q(y)=bdyd+bd2yd2+bd3yd3++b0Q(y)=b_{d} y^{d}+b_{d-2} y^{d-2}+b_{d-3} y^{d-3}+\cdots+b_{0} and B=max0id{bi}B=\max _{0 \leqslant i \leqslant d}\left\{\left|b_{i}\right|\right\} (where bd1=0b_{d-1}=0). The condition shows that for each n1n \geqslant 1, there exist integers y1,y2,,yny_{1}, y_{2}, \ldots, y_{n} such that 12<Q(yi)Q(y1)<2\frac{1}{2} < \frac{Q(y_{i})}{Q(y_{1})} < 2. This can be rewritten in the expanded form
bd(mdyidldy1d)=j=0d2bj(mdyijldy1j) b_{d}\left(m^{d} y_{i}^{d}-l^{d} y_{1}^{d}\right)=-\sum_{j=0}^{d-2} b_{j}\left(m^{d} y_{i}^{j}-l^{d} y_{1}^{j}\right)
Let cc be the common denominator of QQ, so that cQ(k)c Q(k) is an integer for any integer kk. Note that cc depends only on PP and so we may assume (p,c)=1(p, c)=1. Then y1yi(modp)y_{1} \equiv y_{i}(\bmod p) implies cQ(y1)cQ(yi)(modp)c Q\left(y_{1}\right) \equiv c Q\left(y_{i}\right)(\bmod p).

- Case 1. pcQ(y1)p \mid c Q\left(y_{1}\right).
In this case, there is a cancellation of pp in the numerator and denominator of cQ(yi)cQ(y1)\frac{c Q\left(y_{i}\right)}{c Q\left(y_{1}\right)}, so that mdp1cQ(y1)m^{d} \leqslant p^{-1}\left|c Q\left(y_{1}\right)\right|. Noting Q(y1)<2By1d\left|Q\left(y_{1}\right)\right|<2 B y_{1}^{d} as y1y_{1} is large, we get
mp1d(2cB)1dy1 m \leqslant p^{-\frac{1}{d}}(2 c B)^{\frac{1}{d}} y_{1}
For large y1y_{1} and yiy_{i}, the relation 12<Q(yi)Q(y1)<2\frac{1}{2}<\frac{Q\left(y_{i}\right)}{Q\left(y_{1}\right)}<2 implies
13<yidy1d<3 \frac{1}{3}<\frac{y_{i}^{d}}{y_{1}^{d}}<3
We also have
12<ldmd<2 \frac{1}{2}<\frac{l^{d}}{m^{d}}<2
Now, the left-hand side of (1) is
bd(myily1)(md1yid1+md2yid2ly1++ld1y1d1). b_{d}\left(m y_{i}-l y_{1}\right)\left(m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1}+m^{d-2} y_{i}^{d-2} l y_{1}+\cdots+l^{d-1} y_{1}^{d-1}\right) .
Suppose on the contrary that myily10m y_{i}-l y_{1} \neq 0. Then the absolute value of the above expression is at least bdmd1yid1\left|b_{d}\right| m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1}. On the other hand, the absolute value of the right-hand side of (1) is at most
j=0d2B(mdyij+ldy1j)(d1)B(mdyid2+ldy1d2)(d1)B(7mdyid2)7(d1)B(p1d(2cB)1dy1)md1yid221(d1)Bp1d(2cB)1dmd1yid1\begin{aligned} \sum_{j=0}^{d-2} B\left(m^{d} y_{i}^{j}+l^{d} y_{1}^{j}\right) & \leqslant(d-1) B\left(m^{d} y_{i}^{d-2}+l^{d} y_{1}^{d-2}\right) \\ & \leqslant(d-1) B\left(7 m^{d} y_{i}^{d-2}\right) \\ & \leqslant 7(d-1) B\left(p^{-\frac{1}{d}}(2 c B)^{\frac{1}{d}} y_{1}\right) m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-2} \\ & \leqslant 21(d-1) B p^{-\frac{1}{d}}(2 c B)^{\frac{1}{d}} m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1} \end{aligned}
by using successively (3), (4), (2) and again (3). This shows
bdmd1yid121(d1)Bp1d(2cB)1dmd1yid1, \left|b_{d}\right| m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1} \leqslant 21(d-1) B p^{-\frac{1}{d}}(2 c B)^{\frac{1}{d}} m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1},
which is a contradiction for large pp as bd,B,c,db_{d}, B, c, d depend only on the polynomial PP. Therefore, we have myily1=0m y_{i}-l y_{1}=0 in this case.

- Case 2. (p,cQ(y1))=1\left(p, c Q\left(y_{1}\right)\right)=1.
From cQ(y1)cQ(yi)(modp)c Q\left(y_{1}\right) \equiv c Q\left(y_{i}\right)(\bmod p), we have ldmd(modp)l^{d} \equiv m^{d}(\bmod p). Since (p1,d)=1(p-1, d)=1, we use Fermat Little Theorem to conclude lm(modp)l \equiv m(\bmod p). Then pmyily1p \mid m y_{i}-l y_{1}. Suppose on the contrary that myily10m y_{i}-l y_{1} \neq 0. Then the left-hand side of (1) has absolute value at least bdpmd1yid1\left|b_{d}\right| p m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1}. Similar to Case 1, the right-hand side of (1) has absolute value at most
21(d1)B(2cB)1dmd1yid1 21(d-1) B(2 c B)^{\frac{1}{d}} m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1}
which must be smaller than bdpmd1yid1\left|b_{d}\right| p m^{d-1} y_{i}^{d-1} for large pp. Again this yields a contradiction and hence myily1=0m y_{i}-l y_{1}=0.

In both cases, we find that Q(yi)Q(y1)=ldmd=yidy1d\frac{Q\left(y_{i}\right)}{Q\left(y_{1}\right)}=\frac{l^{d}}{m^{d}}=\frac{y_{i}^{d}}{y_{1}^{d}}. From the Claim, the polynomial Q(y1)ydy1dQ(y)Q\left(y_{1}\right) y^{d}-y_{1}^{d} Q(y) has roots y=y1,y2,,yd+1y=y_{1}, y_{2}, \ldots, y_{d+1}. Since its degree is at most dd, this must be the zero polynomial. Hence, Q(y)=bdydQ(y)=b_{d} y^{d}. This implies P(x)=ad(x+ad1dad)dP(x)=a_{d}\left(x+\frac{a_{d-1}}{d a_{d}}\right)^{d}. Let ad1dad=sr\frac{a_{d-1}}{d a_{d}}=\frac{s}{r} with integers r,sr, s where r1r \geqslant 1 and (r,s)=1(r, s)=1. Since PP has integer coefficients, we need rdadr^{d} \mid a_{d}. Let ad=rdaa_{d}=r^{d} a. Then P(x)=a(rx+s)dP(x)=a(r x+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)P\left(x_{i}\right) can be expressed in the form uvidu v_{i}^{d} where u,viu, v_{i} are integers and uu cannot be divisible by the dd-th power of a prime (note that uu depends only on PP). By fixing a large integer qq and by choosing a large nn, we can apply the Pigeonhole Principle and assume x1x2xd+1(modq)x_{1} \equiv x_{2} \equiv \cdots \equiv x_{d+1}(\bmod q) and v1v2vd+1(modq)v_{1} \equiv v_{2} \equiv \cdots \equiv v_{d+1}(\bmod q). 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 nn and consider the corresponding positive integers y1,y2,,yny_{1}, y_{2}, \ldots, y_{n}. For each 2in2 \leqslant i \leqslant n, let Q(yi)Q(y1)=lidmid\frac{Q\left(y_{i}\right)}{Q\left(y_{1}\right)}=\frac{l_{i}^{d}}{m_{i}^{d}}.

As in Case 1, if there are dd indices ii such that the integers cQ(y1)mid\frac{c\left|Q\left(y_{1}\right)\right|}{m_{i}^{d}} are bounded below by a constant depending only on PP, we can establish the Claim using those yiy_{i}'s and complete the proof. Similarly, as in Case 2, if there are dd indices ii such that the integers miyiliy1\left|m_{i} y_{i}-l_{i} y_{1}\right| are bounded below, then the proof goes the same. So it suffices to consider the case where cQ(y1)midM\frac{c\left|Q\left(y_{1}\right)\right|}{m_{i}^{d}} \leqslant M and miyiliy1N\left|m_{i} y_{i}-l_{i} y_{1}\right| \leqslant N for all 2in2 \leqslant i \leqslant n^{\prime} where M,NM, N are fixed constants and nn^{\prime} is large. Since there are only finitely many choices for mim_{i} and miyiliy1m_{i} y_{i}-l_{i} y_{1}

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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.