AlgebraDifficulty 6.6National olympiadFind the answer
P(x) is a polynomial of degree 3n such that P(0) = P(3) = ⋯ &=& P(3n) = 2, P(1) = P(4) = ⋯ &=& P(3n-2) = 1, P(2) = P(5) = ⋯ &=& P(3n-1) = 0, and && P(3n+1) = 730. Determine n .
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
By Lagrange Interpolation Formula f(x)=2∑p=0n(∏0≤r=3p≤3n3p−rx−r)+∑p=1n(∏0≤r=3p−2≤3n3p−2−rx−r) and hence f(3n+1)=2∑p=0n(∏0≤r=3p≤3n3p−r3n+1−r)+∑p=1n(∏0≤r=3p−2≤3n3p−2−r3n+1−r) after some calculations we get f(3n+1)=((03n+1)−(33n+1)+(63n+1)−...)(2.(−1)3n−1)+1 Given f(3n+1)=730 so we have to find n such that ((03n+1)−(33n+1)+(63n+1)−...)(2.(−1)3n−1)=729 Lemma: If p is even (0p)−(3p)+(6p)−⋯=32p+1sinp(3π)(i)p(cos(3pπ)) and if p is odd (0p)−(3p)+(6p)−⋯=3−2p+1sinp(3π)(i)p+1(sin(3pπ)) i is −1 Using above lemmas we do not get any solution when n is odd, but when n is even 3n+1=13 satisfies the required condition, hence n=4
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: Omni-MATH,
licensed Apache-2.0.
Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.