Let z be a non-real complex number with z23=1. Compute k=0∑221+zk+z2k1
A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.
Solution
First solution: Note that k=0∑221+zk+z2k1=31+k=1∑221−z3k1−zk=31+k=1∑221−z3k1−(z24)k=31+k=1∑22ℓ=0∑7z3kℓ 3 and 23 are prime, so every non-zero residue modulo 23 appears in an exponent in the last sum exactly 7 times, and the summand 1 appears 22 times. Because the sum of the 23 rd roots of unity is zero, our answer is 31+(22−7)=346. Second solution: For an alternate approach, we first prove the following identity for an arbitrary complex number a : k=0∑22a−zk1=a23−123a22 To see this, let f(x)=x23−1=(x−1)(x−z)(x−z2)…(x−z22). Note that the sum in question is merely f(a)f′(a), from which the identity follows. Now, returning to our original sum, let ω=1 satisfy ω3=1. Then k=0∑221+zk+z2k1=ω2−ω1k=0∑22ω−zk1−ω2−zk1=ω2−ω1(k=0∑22ω−zk1−k=0∑22ω2−zk1)=ω2−ω1(ω23−123ω22−ω46−123ω44)=ω2−ω23(ω2−1ω−ω−1ω2)=ω2−ω232−ω−ω2(ω2−ω)−(ω−ω2)=346
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