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Algebra Difficulty 6.0 AIME, harder Prove it

1 1.52 Let P(x)=akxk+ak1xk1++a1x+a0P(x)=a_{k} x^{k}+a_{k-1} x^{k-1}+\cdots+a_{1} x+a_{0}, where all coefficients ai(i=0,1,2,,k)a_{i}(i=0,1,2, \cdots, k) are integers. Suppose there are four distinct integers x1,x2,x3,x4x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}, x_{4} such that P(xi)(i=1,2,3,4)P\left(x_{i}\right)(i=1,2,3,4) all equal 2. Prove that for any integer x,P(x)x, P(x) is never equal to any of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.
(China Beijing High School Mathematics Competition, 1963)

Solution

[Proof] By the given condition, x1,x2,x3,x4x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}, x_{4} are four distinct roots of P(x)2P(x)-2, therefore,
P(x)2=(xx1)(xx2)(xx3)(xx4)Q(x). P(x)-2=\left(x-x_{1}\right)\left(x-x_{2}\right)\left(x-x_{3}\right)\left(x-x_{4}\right) Q(x) .

where Q(x)Q(x) is a polynomial with integer coefficients or an integer.
No matter what integer xx is, xx1,xx2,xx3,xx4x-x_{1}, x-x_{2}, x-x_{3}, x-x_{4}, and Q(x)Q(x) are all integers, and since x1,x2,x3,x4x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}, x_{4} are four different integers, xx1,xx2,xx3,xx4x-x_{1}, x-x_{2}, x-x_{3}, x-x_{4} are also not equal.
If P(x)P(x) equals any one of 1,3,5,7,91,3,5,7,9, then
P(x)2=1,1,3,5,7. P(x)-2=-1,1,3,5,7 .

any one of 1,1,3,5,7-1, 1, 3, 5, 7.
But none of 1,1,3,5,7-1, 1, 3, 5, 7 can be factored into the product of four distinct factors. Therefore, P(x)P(x) cannot equal any one of 1,3,5,7,91,3,5,7,9.

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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.