and play the following game with a polynomial of degree at least 4:
and take turns to fill in one of the blanks with a real number until all the blanks are filled up. If the resulting polynomial has no real roots, wins. Otherwise, wins. If begins, which player has a winning strategy?
Solution
In this game, Player and Player take turns filling in the coefficients of the polynomial
Player wins if the resulting polynomial has no real roots, and Player wins if it has at least one real root. We need to determine which player has a winning strategy if starts the game.
### Analysis
1. **Player 's Strategy**:
- Player aims to ensure that the polynomial takes on a non-positive value at some point . Given that the leading term causes to tend to infinity as , if takes a negative value at any point, it must cross the x-axis, implying a real root.
2. Last Move Consideration:
- Suppose the game reaches a point where only two coefficients, say and , are left to be filled. At this stage, the polynomial can be written as:
where is the part of the polynomial already filled.
3. Case Analysis:
- **Case 1: One of or is even and the other is odd**:
- Without loss of generality, assume is odd and is even. Consider:
- By choosing such that , Player ensures that either or , guaranteeing a real root.
- **Case 2: Both and are odd**:
- Consider:
- By choosing such that , Player ensures that either or , guaranteeing a real root.
- **Case 3: Both and are even**:
- Player can ensure that at least one of the last two coefficients corresponds to an odd power of . Initially, there are odd coefficients and even coefficients. Player can maintain this surplus by choosing coefficients strategically during the game.
### Conclusion
Player has a winning strategy by ensuring that the polynomial takes a non-positive value at some point, thus guaranteeing a real root. Therefore, Player wins the game.
The answer is: \boxed{B}.